The ban on legal highs, which will come into law on 6 April, will have a big impact on Katie, 52, from East Sussex. It will criminalise the sale of kratom – derived from a tropical plant – which she uses for pain relief for chronic arthritis. She says the drug enables her to function without having to resort to prescription opiate painkillers.



“While strong opiate painkillers offer me some relief, addiction issues add a layer of pain and sickness to my problems that I can do without. Kratom gives me relief that I can control and it allows me a certain amount of mobility and self-determination.”

But not everyone has had such a positive experience of legal highs. Seth, 40, from Leicester says smoking a herbal high left him withdrawn and depressed: “In my profession I am subjected to random drug and alcohol testing and a colleague mentioned a herbal high as an alternative. The truth is I could have jeopardised my work much more by continuing with it.”

All this law change will do is incriminate even more vulnerable people Henry

These two very different stories were submitted to the Guardian as part of a call-out asking our readers to share their experiences of taking legal highs. Of the 141 people who replied, 113 said they had taken legal highs in the past year. While it’s difficult to draw any broad conclusions from our research (given the self-selecting nature of the survey), it’s worth noting that a large majority (112 people) said that the change of law would not stop them taking these drugs. They share their views on the impact of the new psychoactive substance bill below.



The law change will reduce the use among some



“I believe the law change will have an impact on some people’s use of legal highs. One of my close friends has a real issue with them - he smokes them regularly. The ban will make it harder for him to buy them, which will hopefully prompt him to stop using completely.” Kylie, 18, Devon

“The most important benefit of changing the law is that the ease of availability will be gone. The majority of legal high users take these drugs because they are exactly that: legal and therefore easy to obtain.” Ade, 40, Leicester



It will incriminate a lot of vulnerable people

“The reason I started using legal highs was simply because they were legal and more freely available. I do not believe people will stop taking them once they are no longer legal. Spice, in particular, has already done its job. The people who were once addicted to illegal drugs are now addicted to substances like that. All this law change will do is incriminate even more vulnerable people, particularly those with severe mental health problems and past trauma.” Henry, 29, Swindon



‘MDMA may emerge as a contender to replace Noopept in social contexts.’

There will be a stockpiling of substances

“This law will make people stockpile substances. Otherwise the only alternative is to buy them over the internet from abroad, which is potentially illegal. Not being able to use smart drugs will impact on my social functioning. While not suitable for a work scenario, MDMA may emerge as a contender to replace Noopept in social contexts.” Tim, 34, London



“I think dealers will stock up on them now while they are still legal and then jack up the prices to sell them to people who are really addicted. When they are illegal and cannot be bought straight from the source, they will be cut with even more shit. One of the things about legal highs was, because of the packaging, you at least knew what you were getting.” Rod, 22, Derby

People may turn to harder drugs

“It’s entirely possible that there will be an increase in use of class A and B drugs because of the law change. It could mean that people drink more to try to recreate the feeling of some legal highs, therefore creating more alcohol-related crime or accidents. It’s nonsensical to ban something that hasn’t killed a single person when there are six million deaths worldwide a year from tobacco.” Pan, 20, Leeds

Those who use legal highs for medical reasons will struggle

“I use kratom for my fibromyalgia and endometriosis. It’s the only thing that has helped. I don’t know what I’d do without it. Before finding it I was on a horrible cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs that made me fat and lethargic.” Mandy, 40, Coventry

‘Kratom is the only thing that has helped my fibromyalgia and endometriosis.’

“I am not a conventional legal highs user. But I suffer from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. I take smart drugs because they help relieve the symptoms of brain fog that is associated with the condition; probably through increasing the oxygen that goes to my brain. Without smart drugs my condition would be dehabilitating. Many people with my condition are either bed-bound or don’t work, but the drugs I take help me lead a normal life.” Jamie, 34, London

People will turn to the black market instead

“People will use harder drugs and take more risks buying from the street. It’s a real shame that our government still ignorantly denies that psychedelics are medicine. It is providing an injustice to people like me who need psychedelics to help see things more clearly.” Ken, 27, Scotland



“The change in law will not have a positive impact. It will simply drive the trade underground to criminal gangs. There will be more problems with addictions and more deaths as a result.” Craig, 23, Southampton



“This might make some of the more niche chemicals harder to find but more likely it will just push the sale of these drugs into the hands of shady criminals.” Ben, 20, Surrey