Letter: Praise for legal highs campaign

Also to Andrew Jones MP for bringing this up in Parliament.

I think it is a large step in the right direction. However, I would suggest that it would very naive for anyone to think this is the greater of the drugs issues we have in the area. I see legal highs as being step two in a five step process for our area: Step one is the sale of “cheap” cigarettes to our school children and younger people.

Step two is the introduction of legal highs through the suppliers of the “cheap” cigarettes and through various social meeting spots for these same young people.

Step three is the move to smoking cannabis. Cannabis is “home grown” in the town and many older teenagers and young people know exactly where these “farms” are.

Availability of cannabis is easy to find in every part of the town.

Step four is the progression to category B and A drugs from the suppliers.

Step five is addiction, crime and even death. It would be very interesting to know how many “registered” addicts we have in the area?

How many acts of theft, violence or antisocial behaviour can be linked to both legal and illegal highs.

Legal highs are just part of the problem so please let’s not ignore the whole process.

This problem needs more than just talk.

Andrew Hart

Burns Way,

Harrogate