Police issue warning over legal high injecting

POLICE and health officials have issued a warning over the dangers of injecting so-called legal highs after a spate of incidents involving “aggressive and chaotic behaviour”.

Public health figures in Edinburgh said there was growing concern about the use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), which can be bought easily online and have even been found on sale in newsagents.

NHS Lothian said injecting the drugs was “particularly risk”, noting an increase in infections across the east of the country.

Superintendent Matt Richards, of Police Scotland, said: “Frontline officers are trained to deal with cases where people have become aggressive and are acting in a chaotic and out of character way, but we are seeing an increasing link between this behaviour and NPS - and people being very unwell.”

The fire service said firefighters had reported several instances of “irrational, aggressive and worrying behaviour” when responding to calls, including people setting rubbish fires in their own homes.

Figures released in August showed the number of drug deaths in which legal highs were present has doubled in the past year.

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