UK Recession Drove People To 'Cheap' Legal Highs, Charities Warn

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Britain's economic recession could have driven more people to legal highs to "help them through", drug experts have warned.

Speaking to the Huffington Post UK, Yasmin Batliwala, chair of the

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charity, said: "Because they're legal, they're easier to get hold of and probably very much cheaper.

"I suspect when we have a recession, people are more likely to want to take drugs to help them through their time and they’re more likely to go for legal highs because money isn’t around and they’re cheaper."

There are now over

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, with the

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Batiwala contrasted the rise in legal high consumption with falling rates for people taking illegal drugs like Гер and crack.

"I suspect some of the decline for drugs like Гер and crack is because there has been publicity out there, and so it has been having a lot of impact on people."

Despite the allure of the drugs being "legal", Batiwala added: "The fact that the substance is legal doesn’t mean it’s safe at all."

Batiwala's warning is backed up by research published in 2011 by the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, which found that: "

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Other drug experts have warned that the law is failing to hold back a growing tide of legal highs, as untested substances mimicking banned drugs are on sale in takeaways, newsagents and pet shops.

"The chemistry is outstripping the law", Harry Shapiro, of DrugScope, told HuffPost UK.