UK Government crackdown on herbal highs

A CLAMPDOWN on herbal drugs will be unveiled by the Government today.

A wide range of exotic plants and infusions have become popular in recent
times as a legal alternative to drugs like Ecstasy and cocaine.

But without proper controls some fear the substitutes could be harmful and
potentially lethal.

One of the most popular herbal drugs is methcathinone, a white powder with
the street name Cat, which producers claim has a similar effect to cocaine.

Some herbal drugs are equivalent in prices to their counterparts Cat costs
£55 a gram, just £5 or £10 less than cocaine.

Some of the drugs are on sale in new age specialist shops such as SoHigh
SoHo in London and Herman and the Hippy in Manchester.

Customers can walk in and pick them off the shelves.

In 1995 Cybertronics, a Manchesterbased firm, spent around £10,000
developing a herbal drug called K2, which they claimed produced a similar
high to Ecstasy. It retailed at £7.50 a dose.