New Psychoactive Substances have repeatedly been labelled the latest “major challenge” facing those who work in drugs policy. Now, there is new legislation dealing with these so-called “legal highs”; the plethora of substances that mimic the effects of illegal drugs like MDMA and cannabis. The government’s proposed Psychoactive Substances Bill has been making its way through parliament, and is now under debate in the House of Lords.

Non-smokers breathed a collective full-lunged sigh of relief when smoking became illegal in public places across the UK back in 2006-7. Smokers, presumably coughed, spluttered and desperately snatched a half-lunged breath whilst venting their disapproval but soon gave up to pop outside for a crafty fag. Probably. I don't remember it. I was too busy outside, smoking. 

This new, weird world of smoke-free establishments lead to a marked rise in the trade for picnic benches, outdoor heaters, wall-mounted ashtrays. Smoking became more of an activity on a night out. You cant just spark up anywhere. No, mate. You'll have to finish your drink before you go outside. But nobody told me, I've just got a pint in.

David Cameron will create a new criminal class with his crackdown on legal highs, a former health minister has warned.

Norman Lamb told IBTimes UK that the government's psychoactive substances bill, which will introduce a blanket ban on legal highs from April next year, is "ridiculous".

The legislation comes after 120 deaths were linked to the substances across England, Scotland and Wales in 2013, according to Home Office data.

Synthetic cannabis is now considered to be one of the most dangerous of all recreational drugs, according to an annual survey.

This year's Global Drug Survey found the risk of having to seek emergency medical treatment when using synthetic cannabis was 30 times greater than with high potency herbal cannabis.

Synthetic cannabis is among a number of "legal" highs made illegal in 2009.

One of the most popular ones is a substance called Spice.

A synthetic cannabinoid, is a man-made version of cannabis, and contains the same active chemical tetrahydrocannabinol.

The Global Drug Survey got responses from more than 100,000 people in 50 countries.

AN East Grinstead dad has become the first motorist from the town to be convicted of drug-driving since a new law came into effect.

Michael Reid was caught with more than four times the legal limit of cannabis in his system after being stopped while driving through the town centre.

He was pulled over by a police officer who suspected he was speeding and saw him clip a kerb in London Road.

The officer noticed a strong smell of cannabis when she approached his car. After a search, he was arrested and charged with possessing ten grams of cannabis. He was also charged with drug-driving after testing positive at the roadside.

A high-profile Hollywood stuntman claims to have cured his Stage IV colorectal cancer using cannabis oil.

Mark Chavarria was offered the oil to help with the pain he suffered from the advanced cancer, which had spread from his colon into his liver.

He says, ‘Once I got on this oil, I was able to get rid of everything. All the Oxycontin, everything.

Chavarria faced a gruelling regime of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but says he believed that the cannabis oil actually helped beat the cancer.

‘It’s kind of gross, but I literally felt like I was pooing the thing out every time I went to the toilet.

As new studies are released showing just how miraculous the compounds of marijuana are, the argument for legalized marijuana or at least legal access to medicinal marijuana seems to build a little more each month. One new study, from researchers with Saint George’s University of London and published in Anticancer Research, reveals how various compounds within cannabis are able to work together to kill human leukemia cells.

Theresa May’s psychoactive substances bill has plunged the nation’s legal highs sellers into existential crisis. The legislation would ban all recreational drugs, while making individual exceptions for booze, tobacco, caffeine and so on, ending the lucrative legal cat-and-mouse game that has allowed high street shops and internet entrepreneurs to deal, legally, in new and untested drugs.

The purity and potency of illegal drugs is Europe is on the rise, according to a new report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). In its annual analysis of European drug trends, the EMCDDA also found that heroin use was in decline, that London's sewers had the highest concentration of cocaine among all European capitals, and that two new psychoactive substances hit the market every week.