Ambulance services across the UK have told Newsbeat they're dealing with more 999 calls because of legal highs.

We contacted all 14 services. Nine got back to us, with seven saying they'd seen a rise.

Exact numbers for legal high call-outs are hard to find because emergencies are recorded by symptoms rather than the cause.

The government wants to ban them and they've been linked to a number of deaths.

"We are seeing cases where patients become ill after consuming just three puffs of a legal high and other instances where people become seriously unwell when mixing various legal highs, especially when they do so with alcohol," said Mark Ainsworth-Smith, a consultant at South Central Ambulance Service.

"Each legal high can vary in terms of strength and its effect on the individual. They carry serious health risks and can be fatal."

The North West Ambulance Service told Newsbeat at peak times, they will get up to five or six call-outs per shift.

They say Spice is the most common legal high drug they will have to treat for. This is a synthetic cannabis substitute which experts say can be up to 10 times stronger than cannabis.

There was drool coming from his face. He's out of control he's talking a load of rubbish Howard Coles Paramedic

Howard Coles, one of the paramedics, has seen patients who have turned violent after smoking it.

"There was drool coming from his face. He's out of control, he's talking a load of rubbish. He wants to kill you then he wants to love you," he said.

"The only thing you can do is work with the police. You can't even do observations, you can't even check if his heart's racing, you don't even know if he's going to deteriorate."

Spice refers to a collection of herbs which have been sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids producing a cannabis-like effect when you smoke it



It's often sold as Spice Gold, Spice Silver, Spice Diamond, Spice Yucatan Fire, Solar Flare or Space Truckin



Experts say it can be up to 10 times more powerful than cannabis

Legal highs are designed to produce similar effects to illegal drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy. They can cause paranoia, seizures, and even death.

Travis is 25. He's homeless and has just smoked Spice when we met him. He shows us a packet.

He seems to be fairly relaxed, but says he's not always had good experiences after smoking Spice. He's been using it for about a month.

His speech was slurred as he described feeling "dizziness and drowsiness".

"I've even collapsed off it. I think I almost died on it. [I only survived] because some random dude woke me up."

At an outdoor rave in the centre of Manchester we met another man who the paramedics thought may have taken Spice. He couldn't speak and pushed people away as they tried to help him.

Other ambulance services which say they have seen an increase in legal high call-outs are Scotland, Northern Ireland, South East Coast, East Midlands and West Midlands.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "In recent weeks we have seen a rise in the number of patients dialling 999 for conditions such as heart attacks, cardiac arrests, strokes, seizures and unconscious patients which are as a direct result of having taken a legal high.

Our ambulance crews are tied up dealing with these cases when they could have been dealing with genuine unavoidable cases West Midlands Ambulance Spokesman

"Each of these cases is completely avoidable and means that our ambulance crews are tied up dealing with these cases when they could have been dealing with genuine unavoidable cases.

"People who take these substances have absolutely no way of knowing what is contained within them, if they have undergone any sort of testing, or how it will affect them.

"In short, they are putting their lives at risk every time they take one. Just because it is currently legal doesn't mean that it is a sensible thing to do."

MPs are currently debating a blanket ban on all new psychoactive substances (NPS) which the government wants to bring in.

There's more information if you want to get help or advice about legal highs.

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