UK: Legal highs to be banned by end of year

Pat Sheen

BZP, GBL and synthetic cannabinoids are to be banned in the UK by the end of this year. BZP is already controlled here but no doubt the others will be cut and pasted into Irish legislation before long.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8218688.stm

"The Home Office says the GBL, originally a worming treatment for cattle, can cause serious heart problems, vomiting, anxiety attacks, mood swings and seizures. BZP has been linked to similar conditions."

Isn't reassuring to see they know what they're talking about.

useful_contacts

Pat Sheen wrote: »

BZP, GBL and synthetics are to be banned in the UK by the end of this year. BZP is already controlled here but no doubt the others will be cut and pasted into Irish legislation before long.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8218688.stm

"The Home Office says the GBL, originally a worming treatment for cattle, can cause serious heart problems, vomiting, anxiety attacks, mood swings and seizures. BZP has been linked to similar conditions."

Isn't reassuring to see they know what they're talking about.

we are not in the uk so why should we care?

just because the brits do it doesnt mean we will follow, and if we do the goverment are spas- its bad enough they tried to take us over and now we following their footsteps, some would argue what was 1916 all about if thats the case ?

Pat Sheen

Because Irish law follows UK law step for step. The Misuse of drugs acts are pretty much identical in both jurisdictions.

K-Ren

Pat Sheen wrote: »

"The Home Office says the GBL, originally a worming treatment for cattle, can cause serious heart problems, vomiting, anxiety attacks, mood swings and seizures.

These reports are always so biased, they never mention the fun stuff.

shenanigans1982

K-Ren wrote: »

These reports are always so biased, they never mention the fun stuff.

And the cattle are going to be in for a shock.

Yakult

I thought over here they removed the bzp that were in the pills etc.?

And anway half of them pills are crap along with that "smoke" so I would rather buy the real deal.

its funny tho smoking a joint of the legal smoke walking pass a guard lol

Pat Sheen

useful_contacts wrote: »

just because the brits do it doesnt mean we will follow, and if we do the goverment are spas- its bad enough they tried to take us over and now we following their footsteps, some would argue what was 1916 all about if thats the case ?

They followed with shrooms. We share a land border and the PSNI and Gardai work hand in glove when it suits them to.

Bob_Harris

Oh I go and buy legal "highs" and feel so naughty and COOL afterwards, sometimes I even buy illegal drugs and that makes me feel even MORE cool.

Boo hoo, I hope they ban them all, ya drug taking, supporter of drug pushers and gang crime, scum.

Pat Sheen

Btw when synthetic cannabinoids become controlled drugs they will be black market commodities and will be used as adulterants and be sold as cannabis.

philologos

useful_contacts wrote: »

we are not in the uk so why should we care?

just because the brits do it doesnt mean we will follow, and if we do the goverment are spas- its bad enough they tried to take us over and now we following their footsteps, some would argue what was 1916 all about if thats the case ?

The 1916 Rising was about legal highs? :pac:

CCCP^

They can't ban all the materials in legal highs, there's way too many. They can't just put a blanket ban on synthetics. A similar thread came up on AH awhile back about head shops and legal highs. Some lad mentioned that they can recreate a drugs effect with thousands of different chemical combinations. Madness shall prevail.

Pride Fighter

Pffft, people can always sniff glue and lynx. There are ways around this everyone.

DamienH

BZP should be banned anway, it will be here soon too. It's filthy ****, why anyone would take it I don't know. Obscure designer drugs FTW

Pat Sheen

DamienH wrote: »

BZP should be banned anway, it will be here soon too.

It already is.

Sharpshooter

NBB Bohs wrote: »

Ah yes the odd experience of actually actively supporting a football team week in week out in your own city as opposed to sitting watching listening to sky sports ****e going on about 'the best league in the world' and attending 2 or 3 games a year. Ah yes completely deluded I am.

I agree.

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

Considering your posts have nothing to do with the thread that you're posting in and are borderline attacking another poster you're very f*cking deluded.

To avoid hypocricy....ban everything.

Again, I agree.

useful_contacts wrote: »

For the record you have ruined your own thread- you first started banging on about football when this had nothing to do with it- you went out of your way to search my prof and see i followed liverpool- then dragged that into your argument... and now your threads gone off course. WELL DONE!

We'll see.

NBB Bohs wrote: »

Just replying to the poster in question thats all. He/She said 'why should we care' so I said why do you care about a British football team?

I just love calling out people who seem xenephobic/anti-british yet happily will buy a british soccer team jersey.

Do you now?

NBB Bohs wrote: »

Of course I was over in Austria, Salzburg to be precise to see the Gypsies draw with Red Bull. On the way back I was talking to a few Liverpool supporters(from liverpool) who were coming back from a friendly in Switzerland I think, a world away from the Irish Liverpool 'fans'

Drivel.

useful_contacts wrote: »

Im a she - ya gonna start a sexist thread now are you? seems to be your style giving out to people about their team- whats next their gender? When did i say i was anti british?go on find the sentence and quote it... go on!

You cant - cos all i said was "if we are copying the english then what was 1916 all about"

Calling people out? You have not called anyone out love- you have started banging on about footy in a thread that had nothing to do with it. If anyones looking foolish its you , tell ya what. If you ever need a serious operation dont leave ireland to get it- because you might explode with the weight of your own Hypocrisy

It's a coming.

NBB Bohs wrote: »

wow this crazy bitch got issues.

So has this one.

Banned for Personal Abuse.

sneakerfreak

DamienH wrote: »

BZP should be banned anway, it will be here soon too. It's filthy ****, why anyone would take it I don't know. Obscure designer drugs FTW

it already is

it was an obscure designer drug

Pat Sheen

sneakerfreak wrote: »

it was an obscure designer drug

It was a common adulterant, and still is, in fake ecstacy tablets before it ever appeared on the legal highs market.

sneakerfreak

Pat Sheen wrote: »

It was a common adulterant, and still is, in fake ecstacy tablets before it ever appeared on the legal highs market.

yes but mCPP is more so,the legal highs lads never even used it it so ****

Fratton Fred

Drink beer, get drunk, fall over.

Where is the problem in that, why go for all these hippy **** "Cool" drugs?

genericguy

cigarettes have also been linked with a number of diseases. why not ban them?

Long Onion

IBTHR


(in before the Harney reference)

Pat Sheen

sneakerfreak wrote: »

the legal highs lads never even used it it so ****

Rubbish. And stop spamming this thread.

Wertz

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Drink beer, get drunk, fall over.

Where is the problem in that, why go for all these hippy **** "Cool" drugs?

I love this argument. What about those in society who simply don't like the effects of alcohol?
How about people with a serious addiction problem around alcohol...don't they deserve some sort of other substance that allows them an escape/wind down/social outlet?
How about all the negative effects alcohol consumption has in society at large?

Drugs are nothing to do with being cool. That's how it may start off for someone taking them in their youth. Funnily enough it's probably why a lot of the youth start off smoking and drinking. But by the time adulthood and some level of maturity is reached, drugs aren't about being cool...
Do normal non-illegal substance users still go out and drink because it's cool?
Do adults smoke because it's cool?
Why single out all the other illegal substances then? Why brand users as hippies and insinuate that "hippies" are somehow bad?
I just don't get this whole "demonise everything that's not legal and taxed" attitude...

Back on topic, I see they're banning that spice gold stuff too...never did get around to trying that...ah well, just stick with the overpriced and untaxed real stuff I suppose...

Prof.Badass

The uk effectively banned the sale of bzp when they classified it as a medicine. Ireland did not follow suit.

For a very long time bzp was on sale here but not in the uk. In fact more than one company relocated here to sell bzp over the internet.

We only banned bzp when the EU made us to. If the EU had not done this, bzp would have probably stayed legal for who knows how much longer.
I wouldn't take it as a given that we will definitely follow the uk in every piece of drug lesigtation.Didn't mary harney at one point say she had no interest in banning bzp?

Imo, if smoking blends listed their ingredients a ban could possibly be avoided, at least for a while. As for some of the others, i think it is even less likely they will get banned because their useage rates are lower and less out in the open.

Strange that there's some missing from that list. One's that the appropriate uk officials DO know about.

At the end of the day it's all irrelevant. With the wealth of information on the internet means that by the time we come anywhere close to running out of new drugs society will have a more healthy attitude to these drugs.

If banned, cannabinoids will make their way onto the street. Probably not straight away, but eventually they would. Imagine if people smoked tobacco that had been sprayed. No-one would know the difference.

teddy_303

Bob_Harris wrote: »

Oh I go and buy legal "highs" and feel so naughty and COOL afterwards, sometimes I even buy illegal drugs and that makes me feel even MORE cool.

Boo hoo, I hope they ban them all, ya drug taking, supporter of drug pushers and gang crime, scum.

If people could avail of these legal substances, they wouldn't be forced to support the gangs and smugglers. What people take would also be subject to tax, quality control and monitored use. The black market which drives the gangs and murderers would collapse pretty instantly, and they would have nothing to fight over. Pity the media don;t put that info in their bulletin.

Prohibition never has or ever will work.

Pace2008

Bob_Harris wrote: »

Oh I go and buy legal "highs" and feel so naughty and COOL afterwards, sometimes I even buy illegal drugs and that makes me feel even MORE cool.

Boo hoo, I hope they ban them all, ya drug taking, supporter of drug pushers and gang crime, scum.

A comment so retarded that any further disparaging remarks I could make on it would only lend it some semblance of credibility, which it does not have in the slightest.

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Drink beer, get drunk, fall over.

Where is the problem in that, why go for all these hippy **** "Cool" drugs?

Because there are a myriad of drugs, both legal and illegal, that are far more enjoyable than alcohol and cause far less liver and brain damage than getting drunk to the point that you fall over. I like some variety in life - I don't eat cabbage and ham every day for dinner, so why should I use the same psychoactive every weekend? And again, what's with this notion that people take drugs to be 'cool?' Does your knowledge of drugs and drug use begin and end with what you learned in third class? What age do you think we are, ten?

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Pffft, people can always sniff glue and lynx. There are ways around this everyone.

I don't want to die yet :eek: Anyway, we still have Mephedrone and Methylone, two awesome legal drugs that that the British Government must know about, but have chosen to ignore for now - quite surprising considering that Mephedrone is probably quite dangerous.

Prohibition never has or ever will work.

Quoted for truth. This ban is not an attempt to protect the population; none of the drugs banned were posing any significant threat to society, particularly the synthetic cannabinoids. It's just another move in a moral crusade, with the ultimate goal being to ban getting high altogether. Why the goverment continues to ignore suggestions for pragmatic solutions is beyond me, considering it's painfully apparent that prohibition not only fails to solve the problem it sets out to amend, it actually makes it much worse.

vinylmesh

vinylmesh wrote: »

by the time we come anywhere close to running out of new drugs society will have a more healthy attitude to these drugs.

Societies attitude is already healthy thanks.
Society rejects brain cabage-ing drugs.
Most people that use them are goms.

Corkfeen

Plenty of legal substances that are as bad as illegal ones tbh. Though i've heard some dodgy things about a few of the ones they're banning.
This does come to mind though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZqYV9KKOZQ

Pace2008

Deleted User wrote: »

Societies attitude is already healthy thanks.
Society rejects brain cabage-ing drugs.
Most people that use them are goms.

A valid post, backed up with compelling evidence, from someone who clearly has in-depth knowledge on the subject.

Not really, it's was a pile of ****e brought down a further notch with a ****ty trope.

Unfortunately for you, society's attitude is slowly changing to a more liberal standpoint. There are happy, successful people that you'd never suspect do drugs. We're not all like the junkies you see shuffling up O'Connell Street; we don't wear yellow badges or bells around our necks to mark us out. Sadly, due to the stigma that's still attached to drug use it's hard for us to express our views in public, as it can damage social standing or endanger employment.

120_Minutes

Deleted User wrote: »

Societies attitude is already healthy thanks.
Society rejects brain cabage-ing drugs.
Most people that use them are goms.

You have no idea do you?

Fratton Fred

Wertz wrote: »

I love this argument. What about those in society who simply don't like the effects of alcohol?
How about people with a serious addiction problem around alcohol...don't they deserve some sort of other substance that allows them an escape/wind down/social outlet?
How about all the negative effects alcohol consumption has in society at large?

Drugs are nothing to do with being cool. That's how it may start off for someone taking them in their youth. Funnily enough it's probably why a lot of the youth start off smoking and drinking. But by the time adulthood and some level of maturity is reached, drugs aren't about being cool...
Do normal non-illegal substance users still go out and drink because it's cool?
Do adults smoke because it's cool?
Why single out all the other illegal substances then? Why brand users as hippies and insinuate that "hippies" are somehow bad?
I just don't get this whole "demonise everything that's not legal and taxed" attitude...

Back on topic, I see they're banning that spice gold stuff too...never did get around to trying that...ah well, just stick with the overpriced and untaxed real stuff I suppose...

Because it is social, drinking is a social concept and not done in your own home or in a side street. It involves the pleasure of tasting a nice beverage and the onward effect that over a period of time, you will get a nice warm fuzzy happy feeling.

Admittedly some people mistreat it but generally speaking, it is not about getting high quickly so you can have a good time.

Pace2008 wrote: »

Because there are a myriad of drugs, both legal and illegal, that are far more enjoyable than alcohol and cause far less liver and brain damage than getting drunk to the point that you fall over. I like some variety in life - I don't eat cabbage and ham every day for dinner, so why should I use the same psychoactive every weekend? And again, what's with this notion that people take drugs to be 'cool?' Does your knowledge of drugs and drug use begin and end with what you learned in third class? What age do you think we are, ten?

I have a pretty good knowledge of drug taking and to be honest, none of the ones I have tried are as good as beer.

The big difference is that i enjoy a beer, chucking a tab down in my mouth just ain't as much fun as having a cold pint of the landlords finest.

but then, I have a pretty good life and don't feel the need to get off my head in anyway possible to forget all about it.

The bit I have highlighted, that's the bit you need to worry about.

sneakerfreak

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Because it is social, drinking is a social concept and not done in your own home or in a side street. It involves the pleasure of tasting a nice beverage and the onward effect that over a period of time, you will get a nice warm fuzzy happy feeling.

Admittedly some people mistreat it but generally speaking, it is not about getting high quickly so you can have a good time.



I have a pretty good knowledge of drug taking and to be honest, none of the ones I have tried are as good as beer.

The big difference is that i enjoy a beer, chucking a tab down in my mouth just ain't as much fun as having a cold pint of the landlords finest.

but then, I have a pretty good life and don't feel the need to get off my head in anyway possible to forget all about it.

The bit I have highlighted, that's the bit you need to worry about.

ive never done drugs in a side street

nice beverage?beer is complete piss mostly

not as good as beer,what drugs have u tried? sniffing tippex?

christ its like a car crash

pretty good life?

no no the bits i have highlighted are the bits you need to worry about

sneakerfreak

Pat Sheen wrote: »

Rubbish. And stop spamming this thread.

Tell me which products contained mCPP and there is no spamming

Fratton Fred

sneakerfreak wrote: »

ive never done drugs in a side street

nice beverage?beer is complete piss mostly

not as good as beer,what drugs have u tried? sniffing tippex?

christ its like a car crash

pretty good life?

no no the bits i have highlighted are the bits you need to worry about

I bow to your superior coolness.:rolleyes:

Pace2008

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Because it is social, drinking is a social concept and not done in your own home or in a side street.

Weed is a social drug. Coke is a social drug (though personally, I'm not a fan). MDMA is the epitome of a social drug. Like alcohol, any drug can be abused at home but the majority of them are far better enjoyed in the company of friends. And done 'in a side street?' Maybe when I was smoking hash in the bushes at the age of sixteen, but why the hell would I do that now? Do you still skull your cans down the end of a lane whenever you go drinking?

Admittedly some people mistreat it but generally speaking, it is not about getting high quickly so you can have a good time.

Do you live in Ireland? If not, I can understand your view, if you do then you're completely deluded.

I have a pretty good knowledge of drug taking and to be honest, none of the ones I have tried are as good as beer.

That's your opinion then, and you're entitled to it. The effect of any given drug is a completely subjective experience. Personally I'd take the intense euphoria, feelings of empathy and heightened music appreciation MDMA gives me over the pleasant-but-stupefying effects of alcohol any day. Do you not think people should be allowed some choice in their selection of mind-altering experiences, within reason, especially considering that some of the more popular illicit psychoactives have been shown to be less harmful than alcohol?

The big difference is that i enjoy a beer, chucking a tab down in my mouth just ain't as much fun as having a cold pint of the landlords finest.

I'd agree with you here. A significant part of the pleasure alcohol brings you is in its consumption, and with the exception of weed, there aren't any other drugs I can think of that match it in this regard. It's actually part of the reason alcohol is so addictive.

but then, I have a pretty good life and don't feel the need to get off my head in anyway possible to forget all about it.

So do I. Why do people assume that all drug users - users of alcohol excluded, naturally - are getting high to escape the harsh reality of their pitiful existences? Like alcohol, I see the less socially accepted drugs as a means to enhance my life rather than escape from it. I think some views you're expressing are based more on a combination of misguided popular opinion and a small dose of self-delusion than reality.

The bit I have highlighted, that's the bit you need to worry about.

Apart from weed and alcohol I'm quite sparing in my use of drugs. Alcohol's the only one I have any reason to believe will cause me harm in the long-term.

I bow to your superior coolness.

Yes, anyone who disagrees with popular opinion is doing it to be edgy and cool. The use of a rolleyes smiley really bolsters your argument.

Fratton Fred

Pace2008 wrote: »

Weed is a social drug. Coke is a social drug (though personally, I'm not a fan). MDMA is the epitome of a social drug. Like alcohol, any drug can be abused at home but the majority of them are far better enjoyed in the company of friends. And done 'in a side street?' Maybe when I was smoking hash in the bushes at the age of sixteen, but why the hell would I do that now? Do you still skull your cans down the end of a lane whenever you go drinking?

Do you live in Ireland? If not, I can understand your view, if you do then you're completely deluded.

That's your opinion then, and you're entitled to it. The effect of any given drug is a completely subjective experience. Personally I'd take the intense euphoria, feelings of empathy and heightened music appreciation MDMA gives me over the pleasant-but-stupefying effects of alcohol any day. Do you not think people should be allowed some choice in their selection of mind-altering experiences, within reason, especially considering that some of the more popular illicit psychoactives have been shown to be less harmful than alcohol?

I'd agree with you here. A significant part of the pleasure alcohol brings you is in its consumption, and with the exception of weed, there aren't any other drugs I can think of that match it in this regard. It's actually part of the reason alcohol is so addictive.

So do I. Why do people assume that all drug users - users of alcohol excluded, naturally - are getting high to escape the harsh reality of their pitiful existences? Like alcohol, I see the less socially accepted drugs as a means to enhance my life rather than escape from it. I think some views you're expressing are based more on a combination of misguided popular opinion and a small dose of self-delusion than reality.

Apart from weed and alcohol I'm quite sparing in my use of drugs. Alcohol's the only one I have any reason to believe will cause me harm in the long-term.

Yes, anyone who disagrees with popular opinion is doing it to be edgy and cool. The use of a rolleyes smiley really bolsters your argument.

Best arguement on this thread so far.

Apart from the hard mega addictive drugs, I don't really have a problem with drug taking as such, although I do believe that people who take drugs should be well versed on what they are doing. ignorance and stupidity is what usually kills people rather than the substance itself. the same quite easily applies to Alcohol as well before anyone gets too excited.

My biggest concern with head Shops is how much info they give users and what dangers they warn people of.

give me a pint of real ale and a decent cigar anyday though

Prof.Badass

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Admittedly some people mistreat it but generally speaking, it is not about getting high quickly so you can have a good time.

Who says drinking alcohol quickly purely to have a good time is incompatible with responsible drinking?

I mix a naggin with some miwadi+water and drink it with the concious effort of getting it into me. I usually have it all down in 5 minutes.
With the unpleasant part over i start enjoying the effects of the alcohol and socialise with my friends. Having taken my dose i do not drink any more alcohol, instead i will have a glass or 2 of water. When i start sobering up after about 3 hours (and if there are still another 2+ hours left) i might take a top-up dose of not more than half a naggin.

I treat alcohol as a drug and give it due respect. People who treat it as more of a drink generally don't. My friends who get slowly drunk spend way more money than me and commonly drink too much, yet i seem to have more fun than them and am generally seen as a party person, whereas they are not so much.

Wertz

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Because it is social, drinking is a social concept and not done in your own home or in a side street. It involves the pleasure of tasting a nice beverage and the onward effect that over a period of time, you will get a nice warm fuzzy happy feeling.

Admittedly some people mistreat it but generally speaking, it is not about getting high quickly so you can have a good time.

Not done in your own home or in a side street? lol Ireland of late is awash with the house party and knacker drinking...the flight from overpriced, noisy smokefree pubs and clubs and the economic situation means that alcohol consumption at home is probably on par with drinking on licensed premises, and the underage or those of lower spending power spend plenty of time on corners, in parks or other outdoor places, getting skulled.

To say that other drugs, be they legal highs or controlled drugs, aren't social or that they can't be used in a sociable manner is short sighted...the very reason they are used in a seemingly unsocial way is because they're either illegal or too taboo to use openly and so users are driven into reclusion or the privacy of small groups.

Ecstasy is probably one of the most sociable drugs you can take...I wouldn't dream of taking it in my own company or in an unsocial situation...in fact I'd see it as a waste.
Weed the same...fine I'll smoke it on my own if there's no-one to toke with...but I much prefer smoking in company, and just like drinking it's as much about the journey as it is about the destination.
Legal highs (the few I've tried) run along the same lines...



"Some people"...tbh I'd replace that with "A lot of people" as per the Irish experience of alcohol use/abuse. No-one drinks triple VnRBs for their palatable fruitiness and effervescent tones, they drink them to get hammered as fast as possible...same goes for alcopops and shots. It's a long way from sitting sipping wine or relaxing with a few pints, but both are realities of drinking in this country and in the UK...

ScumLord

I hope this backfires in their faces and all that happens is that the nice upper-class students that went to the headshop and found they liked getting high at the weekend now turn to illegal drug sellers to get their weekend fix.

It was to be expected really politicians wouldn't know there arse from there elbow.

ScumLord

ScumLord wrote: »

I hope this backfires in their faces and all that happens is that the nice upper-class students that went to the headshop and found they liked getting high at the weekend now turn to illegal drug sellers to get their weekend fix.

It was to be expected really politicians wouldn't know there arse from there elbow.

Put yourself up for election then on a legalise coke or similar cabage brain drugs campaign and see how you get on

I'll repeat most people who like making cabbage of their brains are misguided fools.
Thankfully most of them get sense after a while.

Wertz

Deleted User wrote: »

I'll repeat most people who like making cabbage of their brains are misguided fools.
Thankfully most of them get sense after a while.

So how do you address the problem of people using alcohol to get into the same situation of cabbage-ment?
Are they too misguided?
It's well known that over usage of alcohol causes brain damage and psychiatric problems both in the short and long terms.

What about drug users who don't use the amount nor at the frequency to reach the levels necessary to make "cabbage of their brains"?

Judging by this thread alone, many people don't need drugs to make cabbage of their brains...mother nature has given them a head start...

dr.bollocko

Deleted User wrote: »

Put yourself up for election then on a legalise coke or similar cabage brain drugs campaign and see how you get on

I'll repeat most people who like making cabbage of their brains are misguided fools.
Thankfully most of them get sense after a while.

Is it boiled cabbage or raw cabbage? Do you know?
Is this cabbage still capable of cell duplication?
Will this brain cabbage result in homicidal tendencies and be a general menace to society? Do you know does your brain turn to cabbage after years of habitual use or after just one toke? Is it habitual use of all drugs? Or just the illegal ones? Or just cocaine?
Jesus this brain cabbage thing is shocking. I assume you have the relevant studies to indicate how this brain cabbage outbreak happens?


We are going to have to stop this here for now just until I get some clarification on precisely what is and is not OK for threads of this type. Please PM me for further clarification and do not start any other threads on this issue in the short term until I let you all know what kind of debate can be had here without potentially causing trouble for boards.