Pubs welcome mephedrone ban
The pub and club industry has welcomed Government moves to ban "legal high" drug mephedrone, which will become a Class B drug.
Mephedrone, sold as plant food, has become increasingly popular with revellers because it induces similar effects as cocaine and ecstasy but is cheaper at around £10 to £15 a gram in powder, capsule or liquid form. A January survey by clubbers' magazine MixMag revealed that one in three of its readers had taken mephedrone in the previous month.
It has so far been linked to 25 deaths in the UK. The Government ban will include the chemical compounds of mephedrone in a bid to make it harder for chemists to develop new substances to flout the law. Legislation should be passed within weeks.
"We have always supported the view to ban mephedrone so it is good news," said Noctis executive director Paul Smith said. "But I don't think it will stop the problem because there are ways to get round it, lots of legal highs out there and, potentially, a lot more to come."
Morning Advertiser legal expert Peter Coulson added: "Licensees have an obligation to contact the police of any suspicious behaviour."
In one recent case a Hereford pubwatch was unable to ban a mephedrone user as the drug was still legal (Mephedrone user escapes Pubwatch ban).
The Government also plans to empower local authorities to seize any mephedrone found, an awareness campaign for young people and warning shops and suppliers of its imminent ban.
