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PLEASE USE CAUTION – THESE CAN BE VERY STRONG – OVER 18's ONLY! NOT RECOMMENDED!

Legal highs (sometimes called Herbal Highs) are an alternative to illegal drugs such as Ecstasy, Speed, LSD, Cocaine, Marijuana, Magic Mushrooms and more.

Many people often assume that because these alternatives are legal, they're totally safe and nowhere near as strong as illegal drugs. Well in fact many of these so called legal highs are equally as strong or stronger and whether they're safe to take is extremely questionable. No-one really knows for sure the long term psychological and physical effects of these drugs.

Some legal highs in one country are illegal in others. Products include pills, smoking mixes, fungi, herbal mixes and more. Many Ecstasy or Speed alternatives are made with a substance called BZP (Benzylpiperazine) which is totally illegal in various countries including the USA, Australia, Japan, New Zealand & South Africa. It's legal to process in the United Kingdom, but it's a prescription only drug at the time of writing. Legal high sellers get around this problem by either selling the item off-shore or marking the product “Plant Food” or “Not Fit For Human Consumption”, despite calling the product something like “E=XTC”, making it obvious that's it's intended to be used as a drug.

If you live in a country where BZP is illegal, there's still lots of equally strong alternatives on the market which are just as controversial. The reason they are actually legal is debatable. Is it that the government has kept them legal to help reduce the trade in illegal drugs or is it just that they haven't yet got round to banning them? I'll let you decide.

The advantage of taking a legal high over illegal drugs is that at least it's made to some sort of standard. The user doesn't have to worry about being arrested as long as he/she is about to behave him/herself while under the influence. It's not directly financing crime as are illegal drugs. Each pill of the same name is going to be of similar ingredients and strength. There's not going to be any very nasty surprise ingredients like brick dust or Ketamine (A dangerous horse tranquillizer drug sometimes added to illegal 'E's). With all this in mind, it's safer than illegal drugs, but in my opinion it's still NOT totally safe and should be at best used with extreme caution.

The disadvantage is that they're so easily available that more people will try them, these can sometimes lead to bigger, worse drugs. They're not fully tested and could be potential harmful, especially in the long term. People don't realise how strong they actually are and can be left in situations where they can't handle the effects, for instance, many pills are more like illegal 'E's than people realize, you can still end up in hospital if you don't for instance drink plenty of water while dancing. As with all drugs, there can be side effects and/or come downs. Often when one is made to feel artificially good, you end up paying it back twice over later. Different people often experience different effects and then have various levels of come down, some can be rather harsh especially if the person already suffers from depression or any sort of mental illness. Mixing these drugs (and they are still drugs, even if they are herbal) could potentially dangerous complications.

I live the the UK where most legal highs are obtainable from nearby shops or markets at the time of writing. I've got a friend who is taking some of these products against advice. I don't recommend you go out and take these products yourself, but if you insist, then treat them with respect, drink plenty of fluids and have a good friend with you.

If you want to find out more, please search the web for "legal highs", but sorry, I won't link to such sites here.

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