So-called ‘legal highs’ have been seized from shops across Dundee, as Trading Standards officers and police step up a crackdown on the products.
Five stores known to sell the products in the city were targeted during a week-long crackdown, which saw 81 packets confiscated with a combined value of up to £810.
Among the 17 different types of products recovered were Pandora’s Box — often marketed as ‘herbal ecstasy’ — and Clockwork Orange, said to have cannabis-like effects.
Both substances are believed to have led to users becoming hospitalised.
Lynne Law, senior Trading Standards officer for Dundee City Council, said: “Our aim is to stop the shopfront premises selling these products. If shops continue to do so, our plan would be to put in a report to the Procurator Fiscal.
“We will be carrying out follow-up visits and will find out if this operation has been successful.”
According to Trading Standards, at least two more shops selling legal highs — known as new psychoactive substances (NPS) — have opened in the last 12 months.
Retailers were warned that the sale of NPS breaches general product safety regulations.
Penalties for offences in connection with the sale of dangerous products can be up to 12 months imprisonment, or a fine of up to £20,000, or both.
The move is the latest step in the council’s battle to stamp out the supply of the potentially lethal products.
Environment convener, Councillor Craig Melville, described legal highs as a “blight on the city”, adding: “This is a hugely important step in getting rid of these substances from shops.
“They have a devastating effect on individuals as well as communities, and there is a huge groundswell of public support for their removal.”
Chief Inspector Gary Ogilvie, Police Scotland’s local area commander for Dundee, warned against trying the substances.
He said: “If you are tempted to try NPS, remember that you cannot know what mixture of chemicals you are consuming and equally there is no way of knowing what these substances may do to your body.
“Just because they are labelled as legal doesn’t mean they are safe — they can contain toxic chemicals and they can kill.
“We’ll continue to work with our partners to carry out visits to premises selling these products.”