A special report by the United Nations drug agency indicated an unprecedented growth in "legal highs," or drugs that that have intoxicating events but are not banned by law. The Guardian noted that the latest report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime showed that there are 348 brand-new types of synthetic drugs that have appeared in over 90 countries across the globe. The majority of the psychoactive substances purportedly have emerged in the last five years and that there is a possibility that the actual number of legal highs is more than the official number.
The report also said that the proliferation of legal highs were attributed to the fact that they are no longer available in niche markets only.
Moreover, legal highs are now popular among young people. The report said that the use of amphetamine-type substances in certain parts of Central and South America are more popular than cannabis or cocaine on some age groups. Certain legal highs were also observed to be popular among younger age groups as compared to traditional illicit drugs in North America and Europe, the report added.
On the other hand, the UN agency said that there have been steps to ban some of the legal highs, although none yet for the 348 new ones.
"In 2014, the United Kingdom requested the international control of mephedrone, a potentially fatal recreational substance, under the 1971 UN convention on psychotropic substances."
Mephedrone, known for its street name "meow meow," is a class B substance and still remained popular in London clubs despite the ban on the drug.
But still, the UN agency admitted that there is still more needed to be done in order to at least be prepared in terms of medical procedures to aid unfortunate victims of legal highs.
"Emergency services may therefore find themselves unable to identify life-threatening substances and powerless to administer the proper treatment to users," the UN report added.
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