'Legal high' appeal seen as a success

NO patients have attended hospital having taken "legal highs" this week, suggesting an appeal from NHS Lothian on the matter has been successful.

Health chiefs confirmed that after 20 people came through the doors in the space of a week having taken the Ivory Wave substance, admissions have now stopped.

The drug, which is designed to be sold as bath salts, can cause a range of unpleasant symptoms from loss of bowel control to extreme paranoia.

It is not known if the 20 cases earlier in the Lothians were all from the same bad batch.

NHS Lothian bosses welcomed the drop, which came as it emerged the number of drug-related deaths in the Lothians had fallen in the past year.

Public health specialist Jim Sherval said: "It is vital that we continue to progress work in this area. Additional investment has enabled us to speed up access to specialised treatment and provide increased information and training for drug users and their families on how to respond to an overdose."