New versions of the drugs are turning up in Jersey every week, leaving health and police playing “catch-up” as they try to ban each one as they come along.
But now – in the wake of the first major drugs survey in the Island since 2001 – the head of the Alcohol and Drugs Service says that it’s time to move to a system of blanket bans.
The report, by independent researchers, found that the first consumption of the drugs variously called “former legal highs” or “new psychoactive substances” was between the ages of 12 and 57, and that 27% of those who had taken them had started before the age of 16.
Of the users, 40% said they got the drugs from someone they knew, 35% from a shop and 23% via the internet.
Mike Gafoor, the Director of Jersey’s Alcohol and Drugs Service, said that they would be following the UK approach to send a clear message that the synthetic drugs were neither legal nor safe.
He said: “Up until now our approach was to ban individual drugs as they appear, where there is evidence of harm. There is almost a new one every week in Jersey, so we want to follow the UK drugs policy in banning ‘families’ of drugs, so that we can capture all drugs that are related rather than play catch-up in banning individual substances.
“I know that the UK legislation is about to be passed, so the Jersey Drugs Council will be following soon.”