Legal high victims treble in a year

Published on 30/07/2012 01:23

A SPECIALIST doctor believes it is only a matter of time before more people die from taking so-called legal highs, as a survey showed the number of young people needing emergency treatment after taking them has more than trebled in a year.

Patients who take the substances are often so seriously ill when they come to hospital that urgent treatment is needed, Dr Richard Stevenson of Glasgow Royal Infirmary said.

“When these patients arrive we can only treat the symptoms – because we don’t know what they have taken … and neither do they,” the doctor said.

The hospitals surveyed were Glasgow’s Western Infirmary, Inverclyde Royal, Vale of Leven and two of the country’s busiest A&E units at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra hospital and Glasgow Royal Infirmary.