Crackdown on 'legal highs' doesn't go far enough, says victim's mother

Published on Tuesday 22 December 2009 21:57

A "LEGAL high" drug blamed for the death of a Scottish woman is to be banned today.

Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) is among a selection of substances which are to be classified as "restricted" Class C drugs.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced that as well as GBL being made a Class C drug, synthetic cannabis products such as "Spice" will be Class B certified.

He said: "We are cracking down on so-called legal highs which are an emerging threat, particularly to young people.

"That is why we are making a range of these substances illegal from today with ground-breaking legislation which will also ban their related compounds.

"We are sending out a clear message to anyone who is thinking about experimenting with them, particularly over the festive period, that not only are they putting themselves in danger they will also be breaking the law."

GBL was blamed for the death Stephanie Balcarras, a 22-year-old from Lanarkshire, by her family.

Ms Balcarras was found dead at a friend's house in Blackpool after she is believed to have taken GBL.

Tim Hollis of the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "Police are all too well aware of the harms caused in local communities, particularly to young people, by these drugs and we support the decision taken by the Home Office to clearly spell this out.

"Enforcement will be proportionate and will focus particular attention on those who traffic in drugs and put people at harm.

"Practical advice has already been circulated to forces to support them in this respect. We want people to enjoy the festive season without exposing themselves to unnecessary risk by taking what are potentially dangerous substances."

But the mother of a medical student who died after taking GBL said the government plans do not stretch far enough.

Maryon Stewart said classifying GBL as a Class C drug "doesn't send the right warnings" to impressionable young people.

Her daughter, Hester Stewart, 21, a University of Sussex student who was studying molecular medicine, died in Brighton, East Sussex, in April after taking GBL.

It is banned in several countries, including the United States and Sweden.

Mrs Stewart said: "I don't think it goes far enough. In America, it is a Schedule A, which is the equivalent of a Class A drug here.

"Class C doesn't mean anything. It doesn't send the right warnings.

"What we need to do is educate young people because I have now come to realise that people as young as 11 are taking legal highs by the bucketful.

"They are having all sorts of awful side-effects but they don't realise, because they think it is legal (so] it is safe."

She added: "We have all this stuff flooding on to the market and we have no idea what's in it."

A spokesman for the Home Office said yesterday: "We are cracking down on so-called legal highs which are an emerging threat, particularly to young people. That is why we are making a range of these substances illegal from tomorrow.

"We continue to monitor the risks and harms of other so-called legal highs, including Mephedrone.

"The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs are looking at these as a priority and their advice will inform our response to these substances."

'We don't want another family to go through the heartache we did'

STEPHANIE Balcarras was only 22 when her body was discovered slumped over a computer at a friend's house.

Ms Balcarras of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, was believed to have taken GBL (gamma-butyrolactone) the drug otherwise known as liquid ecstasy.

She had been out clubbing in Blackpool where she had been staying with her sister Laura Jane for a year.

But she was at a friend's house the night before she was found dead at the end of October.

A post-mortem examination was inconclusive. But Ms Balcarras's family said they believed she had taken drugs.

At the time, Ms Balcarras's mother Teresa Kerrigan said:

"I want young people and parents to be aware of the dangers of all drugs. We don't want another family to go through the heartache we did.

"Everyone had a good word to say about her. She was a beautiful and wonderful young girl. It's not something you think is ever going to happen to you. The last thing I wanted to do was bury one of my kids."

Ms Balcarras, who was unemployed, had lived on and off with her aunt and uncle, Katherine and William Maxwell, in Hamilton.