8:08:30 > 8:08:33Legal highs - they're the drugs that have been causing havoc
8:08:33 > 8:08:35for nearly a decade.
8:08:36 > 8:08:39- Police! Police!- Police!
8:08:39 > 8:08:42People thought because they were so-called legal highs as opposed
8:08:42 > 8:08:44to the dangerous substances that they were,
8:08:44 > 8:08:46that it was legitimate to take them.
8:08:46 > 8:08:49Linked to 204 deaths in 2015...
8:08:49 > 8:08:52It was only, like, a 10% chance of survival.
8:08:52 > 8:08:54They thought she'd be brain damaged.
8:08:54 > 8:08:57..they've devastated life after life.
8:08:57 > 8:09:00I started dabbling in it and then I ended up hooked on it
8:09:00 > 8:09:02and then I lost everything.
8:09:02 > 8:09:06Death comes to mind when I hear the word "legal high".
8:09:06 > 8:09:11Britain has the largest legal-highs market of any country in Europe.
8:09:11 > 8:09:14In May last year, the government passed a law banning them,
8:09:14 > 8:09:17hoping to stop a problem that was getting out of control.
8:09:17 > 8:09:20Jack's been identified via CCTV
8:09:20 > 8:09:24and suspected of dealing and selling new psychoactive substances.
8:09:25 > 8:09:26But is it working?
8:09:26 > 8:09:31We spent six months in one of the UK's worst-hit areas to find out.
8:09:49 > 8:09:52'I'm in Newcastle, where they've had a real problem
8:09:52 > 8:09:55'with what used to be known as legal highs.
8:09:55 > 8:09:59'The North East of England has the highest death rate from drugs
8:09:59 > 8:10:00'in the country.'
8:10:00 > 8:10:03Tell me what you know about legal highs.
8:10:43 > 8:10:46From powders to pills to stuff you smoke,
8:10:46 > 8:10:49there are 640 varieties of legal highs globally.
8:10:49 > 8:10:53They're officially known as novel psychoactive substances,
8:10:53 > 8:10:56and mimic the effects of traditional illegal drugs,
8:10:56 > 8:10:59such as cocaine and cannabis.
8:10:59 > 8:11:03They can be stronger, a lot cheaper, and sometimes more dangerous.
8:11:17 > 8:11:20So, this is Northumberland High Street, which is obviously
8:11:20 > 8:11:22our main shopping area.
8:11:22 > 8:11:25What we began to get is complaints from shop owners and businesses,
8:11:25 > 8:11:27saying that they were being affected
8:11:27 > 8:11:29by the state that people were in,
8:11:29 > 8:11:31who were under the influence of lethal highs.
8:11:31 > 8:11:35Early last year, the city experienced the worst problems
8:11:35 > 8:11:39with novel psychoactive substances - now known as NPS.
8:11:39 > 8:11:42Individuals were seen being sick in the streets, haemorrhaging,
8:11:42 > 8:11:45actually having blood from their ears and nose,
8:11:45 > 8:11:47they were having seizures and fits.
8:11:48 > 8:11:51To try to deal with the problems of people collapsing
8:11:51 > 8:11:54in the city centre, the police, council and ambulance service
8:11:54 > 8:11:57in Newcastle got together to form a taskforce.
8:11:57 > 8:12:01At the height of the NPS use, there was large congregations,
8:12:01 > 8:12:04some of them really vulnerable young people,
8:12:04 > 8:12:07who would hang around this area into the late evenings,
8:12:07 > 8:12:11also dealing in NPS products in this area.
8:12:11 > 8:12:16There used to be a lot of legal-high users that used to
8:12:16 > 8:12:19bother the old people, the children, myself.
8:12:19 > 8:12:22What are your views on legal highs?
8:12:23 > 8:12:26What, mine? Don't take them because they're bad for you.
8:12:26 > 8:12:27They kill you.
8:12:27 > 8:12:30And have you seen people under the influence of legal highs?
8:12:30 > 8:12:31- Aye, I have. - What have they been like?
8:12:31 > 8:12:34They've been lying on the floor, or been lying on the benches.
8:12:34 > 8:12:35You know what I mean?
8:12:35 > 8:12:39- They just lie there and they don't talk or nowt to you.- Mm-hm.
8:12:39 > 8:12:41And you just think, "What's wrong with you?"
8:12:41 > 8:12:45They'd come over to you with a really drowsy look on their face
8:12:45 > 8:12:48and you couldn't understand a word they were saying.
8:12:48 > 8:12:50It's horrible!
8:12:51 > 8:12:55Nationally, until May last year, you could buy legal highs
8:12:55 > 8:12:57across the counter in some shops and newsagents.
8:12:59 > 8:13:03But before that, Newcastle was already closing these shops down.
8:13:06 > 8:13:08I remember smoking it
8:13:08 > 8:13:10and...
8:13:11 > 8:13:14I remember having three draws of it,
8:13:14 > 8:13:18and I remember waking up four hours later on my bed
8:13:18 > 8:13:21and then thinking, "Yeah, that's good.
8:13:21 > 8:13:24"That makes me forget about all my problems."
8:13:27 > 8:13:30Paul is 30 and is in and out of homelessness.
8:13:30 > 8:13:33He's been addicted to legal highs for several years.
8:13:35 > 8:13:40I was getting recognition and reward points for the top salesman.
8:13:40 > 8:13:42I had a nice house,
8:13:42 > 8:13:45the most beautiful girlfriend ever.
8:13:46 > 8:13:48I had a scooter.
8:13:48 > 8:13:51I had everything I could have ever hoped for.
8:13:51 > 8:13:5312 months later,
8:13:53 > 8:13:55I've lost everything.
8:13:56 > 8:13:58250...
8:13:59 > 8:14:01300.
8:14:01 > 8:14:05Is it like heroin, mate, where all your money goes on that?
8:14:05 > 8:14:0730, 40, 50, 60, 70...
8:14:07 > 8:14:09380 quid's worth.
8:14:09 > 8:14:11Would all your money get spent on that?
8:14:11 > 8:14:13Not all of it,
8:14:13 > 8:14:16but a high portion of it, yeah.
8:14:16 > 8:14:20So there's not much difference between that
8:14:20 > 8:14:23and heroin addiction, really, is there?
8:14:23 > 8:14:25Other than I would be more desperate for that
8:14:25 > 8:14:27- than I would be for heroin.- Yeah?
8:14:27 > 8:14:29Yeah.
8:14:29 > 8:14:33But the difference is, I wouldn't set about somebody for heroin.
8:14:33 > 8:14:35I would set about them for that.
8:14:35 > 8:14:36You're not a violent person, are you?
8:14:36 > 8:14:40- You know that.- Yeah.- But when I'm going through withdrawal
8:14:40 > 8:14:42and I'm not myself,
8:14:42 > 8:14:45and my brain's not right because of the psychological effects
8:14:45 > 8:14:47of legal high...
8:14:49 > 8:14:50You know.
8:14:55 > 8:15:00This was where I used to stay when I was homeless,
8:15:00 > 8:15:05normally off to the side, over here, in bushes,
8:15:05 > 8:15:07in a little tent somewhere.
8:15:08 > 8:15:13At 18, Chantelle became homeless and started taking legal highs.
8:15:14 > 8:15:17They blocked everything out.
8:15:17 > 8:15:22They just made you feel like you had four walls around you
8:15:22 > 8:15:25and forget about your surroundings, where you were,
8:15:25 > 8:15:28forget about everything that I was going through.
8:15:29 > 8:15:33I ended up doing shopliftings and doing crime and that
8:15:33 > 8:15:37and stuff I'd never, ever even dreamt of doing before,
8:15:37 > 8:15:41and then that's when I realised I didn't want it no more.
8:15:44 > 8:15:48But once hooked, it's a hard habit to break.
8:16:02 > 8:16:06The Psychoactive Substances Act was introduced in May 2016.
8:16:06 > 8:16:10It banned the manufacture, supply and sale of legal highs
8:16:10 > 8:16:11across the UK.
8:16:11 > 8:16:16What the act did was got rid of the semi-legitimate
8:16:16 > 8:16:17sales of these items,
8:16:17 > 8:16:20both on the internet and on head shops,
8:16:20 > 8:16:22so they're no longer freely available in that way.
8:16:26 > 8:16:29Armed with these new powers, Northumbria Police is targeting
8:16:29 > 8:16:32dealers selling what they've nicknamed "lethal highs"
8:16:32 > 8:16:34on the streets of Newcastle.
8:16:34 > 8:16:38Over the next two days, we're looking to arrest and disrupt
8:16:38 > 8:16:40those concerned in the supply of NPS
8:16:40 > 8:16:44under the Psychoactive Substances of Act 2016.
8:16:44 > 8:16:46So this is the address here.
8:16:46 > 8:16:48If you look, there's a side door,
8:16:48 > 8:16:50and that's where we're looking to hit.
8:16:50 > 8:16:52And basically we're going to be looking for any evidence
8:16:52 > 8:16:55that relates to the sale of NPS, so any mobile phones,
8:16:55 > 8:16:58any laptops with any correspondence on,
8:16:58 > 8:17:00any packets of NPS, and so on.
8:17:00 > 8:17:02OK, folks.
8:17:02 > 8:17:05I don't need to remind you of the dangers of lethal highs.
8:17:05 > 8:17:09You've seen yourselves the immediate effects on users,
8:17:09 > 8:17:12the effects on our city centre and the community we serve.
8:17:16 > 8:17:19We're going with two vans this morning.
8:17:19 > 8:17:22Obviously, we've got a warrant to enter the premises.
8:17:24 > 8:17:27And it's all about getting to the premises quite early
8:17:27 > 8:17:29and securing the premises.
8:17:38 > 8:17:40Police!
8:17:40 > 8:17:41- Police!- Police!
8:17:41 > 8:17:45- We've a warrant to search these premises, OK?- Police!
8:17:48 > 8:17:51The police found the man they were looking for and took him
8:17:51 > 8:17:54to a cell at Forth Banks police station to be questioned later.
8:17:59 > 8:18:02The next day, the police intercepted a parcel
8:18:02 > 8:18:04of legal highs at the house.
8:18:04 > 8:18:06What we've got here
8:18:06 > 8:18:10are approximately 120 bags of lethal highs
8:18:10 > 8:18:13which were delivered, funnily enough, to the property
8:18:13 > 8:18:16this morning whilst officers were still there.
8:18:16 > 8:18:19Street value of those is probably, I don't know, maybe £1,500,
8:18:19 > 8:18:24something like that. They pay approx £3, £4 a bag,
8:18:24 > 8:18:27and they sell them on for about £12 to £15,
8:18:27 > 8:18:31so about three times the money paid out.
8:18:31 > 8:18:33A lot of them are imported from China,
8:18:33 > 8:18:36but these have come from within the UK.
8:18:36 > 8:18:39Fingers crossed, we'll be able to locate the source of this
8:18:39 > 8:18:42and then, as I say, it just moves up the chain and keeps going
8:18:42 > 8:18:45until we can find the one at the top.
8:18:54 > 8:18:56How do people get it? Who are they getting it from?
8:18:59 > 8:19:01How much does it cost you now?
8:19:09 > 8:19:12With the shops closed down, deals are now taking place
8:19:12 > 8:19:14on the streets.
8:19:14 > 8:19:16You can clearly see him,
8:19:16 > 8:19:21he's got about six or seven lethal high sachets in his hand,
8:19:21 > 8:19:24and they're all just queuing up with their coins in their hand.
8:19:24 > 8:19:28Sergeant Percival and his team are tracking a street dealer.
8:19:28 > 8:19:31This is the guy we're going to do the warrant on?
8:19:31 > 8:19:32It's him, yeah.
8:19:32 > 8:19:33Clearly dealing, like?
8:19:33 > 8:19:35- Clearly supplying.- Yeah.
8:19:38 > 8:19:39The suspect, Jack Lockhart,
8:19:39 > 8:19:42is seen dealing around the city centre.
8:19:44 > 8:19:47The team heads out to try and arrest him.
8:19:55 > 8:20:00On arrest, police found cash, legal highs and several mobile phones.
8:20:05 > 8:20:08Mm-hm.
8:20:10 > 8:20:12What, sorry?
8:20:21 > 8:20:24Mr Lockhart is charged with six counts of supplying,
8:20:24 > 8:20:27and under the new Act could face up to seven years in prison.
8:20:29 > 8:20:32His will be the first novel psychoactive substances case
8:20:32 > 8:20:34Northumbria Police take to court,
8:20:34 > 8:20:36and one of the first such cases nationally.
8:20:41 > 8:20:45Paul's visiting Mick, a drugs support worker at Lifeline,
8:20:45 > 8:20:48an organisation that aims to help people with drug addictions,
8:20:48 > 8:20:50and a partner in the taskforce.
8:20:50 > 8:20:54Getting better, getting there. Day by day.
8:20:54 > 8:20:57As the types of legal highs are always changing,
8:20:57 > 8:21:00Paul gives Mick his empty packets, so he can keep up to date
8:21:00 > 8:21:02with the most popular ones.
8:21:02 > 8:21:06And if I just show you the back of the packets, it says,
8:21:06 > 8:21:09"Harmful if swallowed, causes serious eye irritation,
8:21:09 > 8:21:13"skin irritation or respiratory irritation."
8:21:13 > 8:21:16It actually warns you to call your poison clinic.
8:21:17 > 8:21:21Death comes to mind when I hear the word "legal high",
8:21:21 > 8:21:26because pretty much all my friends have died
8:21:26 > 8:21:28through smoking legal high.
8:21:32 > 8:21:35At the peak of legal high use in Newcastle,
8:21:35 > 8:21:38there were hundreds of calls to the ambulance service,
8:21:38 > 8:21:40as people collapsed in the city centre.
8:21:42 > 8:21:45Since the Act, the numbers have fallen
8:21:45 > 8:21:47but some faces are very familiar.
8:21:47 > 8:21:49It's only early evening
8:21:49 > 8:21:51and we're already aware of two patients around the department
8:21:51 > 8:21:54who are here with legal highs.
8:21:56 > 8:22:00You just get a feel here for how regularly we see people.
8:22:00 > 8:22:03So this is just the attendances in the last few months,
8:22:03 > 8:22:06and all, we know, related to legal highs.
8:22:06 > 8:22:10This patient has been back to A&E time and time again.
8:22:10 > 8:22:14The paramedics tend to bring in the packet if they find it.
8:22:14 > 8:22:16In effect, it doesn't help us a lot,
8:22:16 > 8:22:18because we still don't know what the chemicals are,
8:22:18 > 8:22:19but we can spot trends.
8:22:19 > 8:22:22Currently, this one seems to be more sedative,
8:22:22 > 8:22:25in that we're not experiencing any problems, you know,
8:22:25 > 8:22:28he's quite settled, he's quite sedated, quite sleepy.
8:22:28 > 8:22:33People who use synthetic cannabis like Spice are 30 times more likely
8:22:33 > 8:22:35to go to A&E than cannabis users.
8:22:35 > 8:22:39But in terms of deaths, heroin kills far more people.
8:22:42 > 8:22:44Again, just a legal high.
8:22:44 > 8:22:46Looks like someone who isn't known to us.
8:22:46 > 8:22:49We're going to get a feel for what's going on, see how he is.
8:22:49 > 8:22:50I think there's no great concerns,
8:22:50 > 8:22:52apart from the fact that he's slightly sleepy.
8:22:52 > 8:22:55So plans. What are we going to do with him?
8:22:55 > 8:22:58Give him a bit of fluid. Blood pressure is tiny bit on the low side
8:22:58 > 8:23:01- and then just keep an eye on him. - OK.
8:23:01 > 8:23:05With NPS, it's almost a revolving door, that we see people,
8:23:05 > 8:23:09we attempt to impact, but we really get very little opportunity.
8:23:09 > 8:23:13My personal experience is that, really, once they're recovering,
8:23:13 > 8:23:15they just want to be out the door.
8:23:17 > 8:23:21When I go into A&E, they do all the standard tests,
8:23:21 > 8:23:23but they just put me on a drip
8:23:23 > 8:23:26and they just know.
8:23:28 > 8:23:32It's a case of, "We'll flush you out and send you out
8:23:32 > 8:23:34"and see you tomorrow or next week
8:23:34 > 8:23:37"when you come back in in an ambulance."
8:23:42 > 8:23:46Over half a million young people aged 15 to 24 have experimented
8:23:46 > 8:23:50with these types of drugs at least once.
8:23:50 > 8:23:53Deaths linked to legal highs have tripled in recent years,
8:23:53 > 8:23:56and it's mostly young people who are being affected.
8:24:00 > 8:24:03'I've come to meet Sharon, who lives in Morecambe.
8:24:03 > 8:24:06'The North West has the second-highest rate
8:24:06 > 8:24:08'of drugs-related deaths in the country.'
8:24:08 > 8:24:11What do you do for fun around here?
8:24:11 > 8:24:14There's nothing really to do round here.
8:24:14 > 8:24:17I don't know, it's quite deserted, and nothing really much to do.
8:24:18 > 8:24:21'A year ago, at the age of 15,
8:24:21 > 8:24:24'Sharon had a nightmare of an experience with legal highs.'
8:24:24 > 8:24:27How would you describe yourself?
8:24:27 > 8:24:29Well, now I'm a better person.
8:24:29 > 8:24:32I'm more... Well, wiser and more grown-up.
8:24:32 > 8:24:35I used to be a bit of an idiot.
8:24:35 > 8:24:38I'd take drugs and think it were funny.
8:24:38 > 8:24:41What type of drugs?
8:24:41 > 8:24:43Cannabis the most.
8:24:44 > 8:24:48I wouldn't want to do more than that, but legal highs came out
8:24:48 > 8:24:51and then everyone else started taking them.
8:24:51 > 8:24:55She went to a party and that night was given a joint.
8:24:56 > 8:25:00After I smoked a lot of it, I started to feel not like myself
8:25:00 > 8:25:03and it just sent me loopy.
8:25:03 > 8:25:05It's like someone's squeezing you.
8:25:05 > 8:25:09It's like a suffocating sensation, but you can breathe fine,
8:25:09 > 8:25:12but you're panicking because you don't know exactly
8:25:12 > 8:25:15what's going on in your body.
8:25:15 > 8:25:18Sharon came home the following evening earlier than expected.
8:25:18 > 8:25:22For her mum, Cheryl, it's something she'll never forget.
8:25:22 > 8:25:26Told her to be in for ten o'clock, but she was in at half past eight.
8:25:26 > 8:25:28Gone straight up to her bed, which isn't like Sharon,
8:25:28 > 8:25:31but I thought, "Oh, she must be knackered from the night before.
8:25:31 > 8:25:33"I wonder what she's done."
8:25:33 > 8:25:35I was running home.
8:25:35 > 8:25:37I can't remember why I was running, but I can feel my face
8:25:37 > 8:25:41going like that...and my head started going into the pavement.
8:25:41 > 8:25:43The pavement felt like it was that far away from my head
8:25:43 > 8:25:45and I was sinking, like that,
8:25:45 > 8:25:49and I was running and I am going down and down, like that.
8:25:49 > 8:25:53I ran up the stairs, because I knew if my mum saw me like this,
8:25:53 > 8:25:56I was going to get absolutely shouted at and get into trouble,
8:25:56 > 8:25:58so I ran upstairs and went to bed.
8:25:58 > 8:26:01What did you feel like when you were lying in bed?
8:26:01 > 8:26:03Literally, I could feel my heart slowing down.
8:26:03 > 8:26:05I could feel it all through my body,
8:26:05 > 8:26:08my heartbeat's going, "Boomph, boomph, boomph, boomph."
8:26:09 > 8:26:12I've gone and sat downstairs with my mum and dad
8:26:12 > 8:26:14and an almighty thud hit.
8:26:14 > 8:26:16Luckily for me, she'd fallen out of bed.
8:26:16 > 8:26:19If she had not fallen out of bed, she would be dead.
8:26:19 > 8:26:21What did you think was happening at that point?
8:26:21 > 8:26:24At first, I thought she were messing about, until I saw her face
8:26:24 > 8:26:27and I was screaming, "What have you taken?"
8:26:27 > 8:26:29And she couldn't even slur two words together.
8:26:29 > 8:26:31We laid her out on the floor while we waited
8:26:31 > 8:26:35for the doctors to arrive, and the ambulance,
8:26:35 > 8:26:40and she just stopped, she stopped moving, stopped breathing.
8:26:40 > 8:26:42- What did you think was happening? - I thought she was dead.
8:26:46 > 8:26:49- Sorry.- That's OK.
8:26:49 > 8:26:51My little baby was sat there dying.
8:26:51 > 8:26:54There was blood coming out of her mouth.
8:26:56 > 8:26:57She just stopped.
8:26:58 > 8:27:01Sharon was rushed to hospital with her mum,
8:27:01 > 8:27:04where doctors battled to save her life.
8:27:04 > 8:27:09All I could hear was the machine where they restart your heart going,
8:27:09 > 8:27:11because her heart had stopped.
8:27:11 > 8:27:14They got it going again and then it stopped again.
8:27:14 > 8:27:17They fought for her that night.
8:27:17 > 8:27:19And it...
8:27:19 > 8:27:22No mum should have to see what I saw that night.
8:27:22 > 8:27:25What did the doctors say when she got to the hospital?
8:27:25 > 8:27:28It was only like a 10% chance of survival.
8:27:28 > 8:27:30They thought she'd be brain-damaged.
8:27:30 > 8:27:32They told me to get the family and prepare for the worst,
8:27:32 > 8:27:35because they didn't think she'd pull through.
8:27:37 > 8:27:41Cheryl was eventually able to see her daughter just before
8:27:41 > 8:27:43she was taken up to intensive care.
8:27:43 > 8:27:45I went round the corner to see her,
8:27:45 > 8:27:48hooked up to all these different things,
8:27:48 > 8:27:51and they informed me that this tube in her mouth
8:27:51 > 8:27:54was breathing for her, cos she couldn't breathe.
8:27:54 > 8:27:57She wasn't there, it wasn't my baby.
8:27:57 > 8:28:01Why are you so upset now, looking at this?
8:28:02 > 8:28:06Because I can't believe, just looking at that...
8:28:06 > 8:28:09I didn't see that side of the story.
8:28:10 > 8:28:14And it's over something so stupid and so little.
8:28:14 > 8:28:17Does it make you think about your family and how
8:28:17 > 8:28:19they had to deal with it?
8:28:19 > 8:28:22I just feel really guilty,
8:28:22 > 8:28:26because...the one thing I smoked,
8:28:26 > 8:28:31I caused so much harm to myself and to my family.
8:28:33 > 8:28:35How long was she in a coma for?
8:28:35 > 8:28:37Two days, three hours and 45 minutes.
8:28:39 > 8:28:41Can you remember waking up in hospital?
8:28:42 > 8:28:44Erm...
8:28:44 > 8:28:45Kind of.
8:28:45 > 8:28:48I remember having all these tubes coming out my mouth
8:28:48 > 8:28:50and things all over my arms,
8:28:50 > 8:28:53and all my family stood around me crying.
8:28:53 > 8:28:55I was like, "What's going on here?"
8:28:55 > 8:28:58What did you want to say to her here?
8:28:58 > 8:29:00As bad as it is, I wanted to hit her.
8:29:00 > 8:29:02I wanted to smack her for being so stupid.
8:29:04 > 8:29:08And then your heart breaks, because that's your baby.
8:29:10 > 8:29:13And I'd have to go home and tell her little brother
8:29:13 > 8:29:15that big sister wasn't coming home any more.
8:29:23 > 8:29:27In Newcastle, people who work with addicts can often be confused
8:29:27 > 8:29:30about how best to help them, because of the sheer range of legal highs.
8:29:32 > 8:29:35We've gone back to very simple messages saying,
8:29:35 > 8:29:38actually, as a workforce, you know the 90% of this,
8:29:38 > 8:29:42you know how to respond to drugs and their effects,
8:29:42 > 8:29:44so we need to do that in the same way.
8:29:44 > 8:29:46You don't necessarily need to know the compounds,
8:29:46 > 8:29:48the chemistry make-up, you just need to understand
8:29:48 > 8:29:52what the substance is mimicking and then treat.
8:29:52 > 8:29:55And give harm reduction advice accordingly.
8:29:55 > 8:29:58For users of these drugs, it's not just the effect
8:29:58 > 8:30:01that's being mimicked, it's also the withdrawal.
8:30:01 > 8:30:02The rattle...
8:30:04 > 8:30:07Forget about heroin, forget about Trainspotting,
8:30:07 > 8:30:10it doesn't have a patch on it.
8:30:10 > 8:30:14This was the most ruthless detox
8:30:14 > 8:30:17I have ever been through in my life.
8:30:17 > 8:30:21You're sick, your belly... twists up like a knot.
8:30:21 > 8:30:22And you're like...
8:30:22 > 8:30:25It goes in, so you're cramped over like that.
8:30:25 > 8:30:28And you're retching, you're retching, but you can't eat.
8:30:28 > 8:30:30If you want to be in a position
8:30:30 > 8:30:33where you've got...
8:30:35 > 8:30:39..fluids coming out your nose,
8:30:39 > 8:30:43fluids...coming out of every orifice
8:30:43 > 8:30:45in your body you could think of.
8:30:45 > 8:30:48It's like bile that you're bringing up, or phlegm.
8:30:48 > 8:30:51And then you've constantly... You've got diarrhoea,
8:30:51 > 8:30:52constantly on the toilet.
8:30:52 > 8:30:54Or the cold sweats.
8:30:54 > 8:30:56And I mean, you drip, you can see the drips,
8:30:56 > 8:30:58sweat dripping off you.
8:30:58 > 8:31:00It's horrible.
8:31:00 > 8:31:03You sweat like a waterfall.
8:31:03 > 8:31:06You get hot and cold flushes, you're fatigued.
8:31:08 > 8:31:11It just goes on and on and on
8:31:11 > 8:31:13as if it's never going to end.
8:31:13 > 8:31:15It takes a good few weeks to get off them,
8:31:15 > 8:31:18it doesn't take a couple of days. Like, people say...
8:31:18 > 8:31:20Like, the first three days, yeah, fair enough.
8:31:20 > 8:31:23But it's still hard after that. It is.
8:31:23 > 8:31:26Because you're always going to know you can get it.
8:31:26 > 8:31:31So, in your mind, you've got say, "No, I don't want that."
8:31:31 > 8:31:34You've got to be focused on it. You've got to be a strong person.
8:31:41 > 8:31:46It's September, and the police have some news about their NPS arrests.
8:31:46 > 8:31:48In particular, the street dealer Jack Lockhart.
8:31:50 > 8:31:53The updates we have so far is one male has been charged
8:31:53 > 8:31:54and is due in court.
8:31:55 > 8:31:57In the case involving the raid we saw earlier,
8:31:57 > 8:32:00the police are still waiting for the results to come back
8:32:00 > 8:32:01from the Home Office lab.
8:32:01 > 8:32:05The seized drugs were sent for testing, which has delayed the case.
8:32:07 > 8:32:10Without being able to prove the drugs are psychoactive,
8:32:10 > 8:32:11they can't move forward.
8:32:13 > 8:32:15That's taken some time, because this is quite new,
8:32:15 > 8:32:17so the government and the Home Office are currently
8:32:17 > 8:32:20going through the process of testing all the lethal highs that have been
8:32:20 > 8:32:23seized to say whether or not they're psychoactive as such.
8:32:23 > 8:32:25Our thoughts are that they will be,
8:32:25 > 8:32:28but we have to have that confirmed prior to any sort of charge.
8:32:28 > 8:32:31Determining whether something is psychoactive is a two-stage process.
8:32:31 > 8:32:33First of all, the substance has to be identified
8:32:33 > 8:32:35through the normal forensic providers
8:32:35 > 8:32:39and then the second stage is for scientists to say it's psychoactive.
8:32:39 > 8:32:41So, there is a delay, because they've then got to go
8:32:41 > 8:32:43through that second stage.
8:32:43 > 8:32:46However, the Home Office scientists
8:32:46 > 8:32:51have been working through the most commonly available substances.
8:32:51 > 8:32:55And if some new substance that's not been seen before
8:32:55 > 8:32:57in the UK materialises, then clearly that's got to go
8:32:57 > 8:32:59through the same process.
8:32:59 > 8:33:02However, some legal and scientific experts
8:33:02 > 8:33:04doubt that it will be possible to prove
8:33:04 > 8:33:06a new substance is psychoactive with lab tests alone.
8:33:08 > 8:33:11I have to make it clear I'm a lawyer not a scientist,
8:33:11 > 8:33:13but what I've been told by the scientific community -
8:33:13 > 8:33:17there is only one way to tell whether a drug compound
8:33:17 > 8:33:19is psychoactive in its effect or not,
8:33:19 > 8:33:21and that's by way of human clinical trials.
8:33:21 > 8:33:24One might be able to draw comparisons
8:33:24 > 8:33:27between the drug in question and like substances,
8:33:27 > 8:33:29but until the drug is actually consumed by an individual,
8:33:29 > 8:33:32it's actual effect will not be established.
8:33:33 > 8:33:36So, if a defendant pleads not guilty,
8:33:36 > 8:33:39will a lab-based test of psychoactivity in a new drug
8:33:39 > 8:33:42stand up to scrutiny in court?
8:33:42 > 8:33:45We asked the Home Office for an interview, but they refused.
8:33:45 > 8:33:48Instead, they told us...
8:33:48 > 8:33:51"The use of test-tube tests to show a substance is
8:33:51 > 8:33:56"capable of producing a psychoactive effect is in line with advice
8:33:56 > 8:33:58"from the government's independent experts,
8:33:58 > 8:34:01"the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs."
8:34:08 > 8:34:12Police Constable Joyce is off to court for Mr Lockhart's case.
8:34:14 > 8:34:16It's going to be a real sense of achievement, really.
8:34:16 > 8:34:18I think there's only been one or two other court cases in the country,
8:34:18 > 8:34:20so this is one of the first.
8:34:20 > 8:34:22So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what the outcome is.
8:34:26 > 8:34:30The street dealer pleaded guilty to supplying NPS on five charges.
8:34:33 > 8:34:36But he won't be going to prison.
8:34:36 > 8:34:37The result from the court is that
8:34:37 > 8:34:40he's been given a 12-month community order,
8:34:40 > 8:34:44he's been ordered to do 40 hours of unpaid work,
8:34:44 > 8:34:48and he's also been sent on a rehabilitation course, as well.
8:34:48 > 8:34:51So I am slightly disappointed with that result.
8:34:51 > 8:34:53This is because me and my officers
8:34:53 > 8:34:57know the really lethal effects that NPS can have
8:34:57 > 8:35:01on individuals who take it and also on communities, as well.
8:35:01 > 8:35:05So for Jack to receive this sentence is a particularly disappointing
8:35:05 > 8:35:08one for us, after the work that has gone into it.
8:35:08 > 8:35:11Nationally, there have been nearly 500 arrests
8:35:11 > 8:35:13under the Psychoactive Substances Act,
8:35:13 > 8:35:15but only a handful of convictions -
8:35:15 > 8:35:16one of those being Mr Lockhart's.
8:35:18 > 8:35:22For Newcastle alone, more than 16 cases are backlogged in the system.
8:35:22 > 8:35:24And all because of this issue around proving
8:35:24 > 8:35:26whether a drug is actually psychoactive or not.
8:35:28 > 8:35:33This is an Act with so many areas of ambiguity and uncertainty,
8:35:33 > 8:35:35I've got no doubt it will throw up many issues,
8:35:35 > 8:35:39which will require clarification and examination by the courts.
8:35:39 > 8:35:43I take the view that the Act was passed in too much of a rush
8:35:43 > 8:35:46and it would have been better had the government just slowed down
8:35:46 > 8:35:48a little bit, taken stock of the situation
8:35:48 > 8:35:51and drafted a rather more coherent piece of legislation.
8:35:54 > 8:35:5912 months ago, Newcastle city centre was experiencing scenes like these.
8:36:01 > 8:36:05This is Newcastle's main shopping street and, as you can see,
8:36:05 > 8:36:07things have gotten a lot better.
8:36:07 > 8:36:09But, without a doubt, if you look hard enough,
8:36:09 > 8:36:12you'll still find users here and you'll see the same
8:36:12 > 8:36:13in other cities around the UK.
8:36:15 > 8:36:17And you're most likely to find them
8:36:17 > 8:36:21amongst the country's marginalised and homeless communities.
8:36:21 > 8:36:24Do you think it's got any harder for people to get it now?
8:36:29 > 8:36:30How often do you do it?