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The Sunday People has won a major victory in its campaign against dangerous legal highs.

Drugs minister Norman Baker is to overhaul the law so that all of the potentially lethal substances can be banned – in a move under which some 200 so-called 'head shops' will close.

Writing for the Sunday People, Mr Baker says: “We are looking to introduce a blanket ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of all psychoactive substances.”

He also praised our campaign to highlight the dangers of the drugs, which have killed 68 users in the past year.

The legal shake-up means head shops will no longer be able to sell the substances by marking them “not for human consumption” or as “plant food”.

Mr Baker adds: “Young people at risk of losing their lives will be better protected and that’s what matters.”

The minister is following the example of Ireland, which rid itself of the blight of legal highs by banning all psychoactive substances four years ago.

As coffee, alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs also affect the brain, they were granted special exemptions.

The bold move was the only way to stop manufacturers of legal highs getting round the law by changing their chemical

composition when a specific ban was imposed.

Analysis: by Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker

I had become increasingly concerned about the dangers of legal highs – some of which are much more dangerous than drugs already banned.

That is why I set up an expert review panel last year with the best brains in the country to work out how best to tackle this threat and protect our young people.

I have now published the review and I welcome the recommendations.

In short, we are looking to clamp down hard on the dealers and traders in misery, while providing education and health support for those unwise enough to have become users.

We are looking to introduce a blanket ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of all psychoactive substances above a specified threshold, at a stroke sweeping the so-called legal highs and the head shops that sell them off our streets.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

We are also taking steps to improve information about these substances within the NHS and good work is being done by Public Health England.

This approach is similar to that adopted in Ireland, which has seen a big fall in the availability of legal highs.

However, it is not a cure-all – there has been some shift to internet sales, for instance – so we will have to remain vigilant and continue to take enforcement action.

I am grateful to all those who have campaigned so hard for change, notably the Angelus Foundation and the Sunday People.

The steps we have taken will not solve everything but I believe they will go a long way.

Young people at risk of losing their lives will be better protected and that’s what matters.