REVEALED: SCOTLAND'S DEALERS LOOK TO CHINA TO SUPPLY A NEW GENERATION
OF LEGAL HIGHS

The former head of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency says the
country's teenagers are now 'guinea pigs' for the Chinese drug labs
manufacturing the next generation of so-called 'legal highs' after
the banning of mephedrone on Friday.

Graeme Pearson, former director of the SDEA, says the Far Eastern
gangs which manufactured mephedrone for consumption in the west are
simply switching to the production of new drugs following the ban,
with the intention of supplying the untested substances to those
dealing in legal highs throughout the UK and Scotland.

Now head of Britain's first academic institute monitoring crime --
the Unit for the Study of Serious Organised Crime at the University
of Glasgow's Centre for Drug Misuse -- Pearson told the Sunday
Herald: "Obviously the use of mephedrone is very
dangerous, especially for young people, and it also
proves problematic as we don't fully understand the substance's
long-term effects.

"The ban is the only logical outcome, but there is no doubt, people
in these labs in China will already be manufacturing the next
generation of non-illegal substances."

On the street, mephedrone is known as Mcat, Moonshine and Bubbles,
and was widely sold as plant food over the counter in stores and on
the internet prior to its ban.

Last month it claimed the life of Jordan Kiltie, 19, from Ayrshire,
whose mother Angie Kiltie went on to call for the drug to be banned.

Legislation placing the drug and other related compounds in the
Class B category alongside cannabis was rushed through Parliament
after panic about the drug gripped the country in recent months.

The Government's drugs advisers -- the Advisory Council for the
Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) -- found evidence the substance was "likely
to be harmful". Possession now carries a maximum sentence of five
years' imprisonment, while dealers can receive up to 14 years.

However, the senior police chiefs have said that they have "no
intention" of "criminalising" young people caught with mephedrone.
Instead, officers insist they will focus on suppliers. Ahead of the
ban, a number of internet sites selling the so-called legal high
were closed down.

Mr Pearson continued: "We have reached a time, where teenagers in
the Western world have become guinea pigs for other people's
financial gains -- it's madness. These people will have already
changed the chemical formula of mephedrone, making a new legal drug
- -- so that our young people can continue to stick plant food up their nose."

He went on: "The way mephedrone was sold, in shops and online, gave
people the impression that it was safe. Soon, young people were
finding themselves in difficulty. Although there is a more long term
problem, it is difficult to see what other action the Government
could take on mephedrone."

Professor Neil McKeganey, from the Centre for Drug Misuse Research,
believes we are witnessing a revolution in the drug trade.

"New highs come along very quickly, so it is difficult to apply such
rules. We only become aware of new highs once they are a threat and
then we can prevent them.

In some cases, by the time the new high is discovered, young people
and teenagers have been involved in it for years."

Drug experts have also expressed concerns about organised crime
gangs becoming involved in the selling of mephedrone now it is illegal.

Mr Pearson said there was "no doubt" that criminals would move into
the distribution and supply of these former legal drugs with a
"financial bonus attached".

"We will now see proft-led criminal elements in the sale of
mephedrone", he added.

Last month, the Government's former top drugs adviser warned banning
mephedrone could do more harm than good.

‘I'm in touch with Chinese suppliers who can offer me a similar product'

Despite the banning of mephedrone, the Sunday Herald has uncovered
an entire new generation of chemical highs on sale in Scotland sold
by dealers working directly with Chinese gangs to flood the UK with
"designer drugs".

Although the media has focused on mephedrone in recent months, due
to the drug being linked to a number of deaths, dealers in "legal
highs" have many more designer chemicals in stock. They are also
working with Chinese gangs to import new compounds which do not
fall foul of the updated UK drug legislation.

The new highs include substances such as MDPV, methylone and
butylone. All of them mimic the effects of other, better-known
drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy.

The new legal highs were made freely available to The Sunday Herald,
with no legal consequences, from four websites selling drugs similar
to mephedrone.

To avoid prosecution most dealers describe the designer drugs as
"plant food" or label them "not for human consumption". Prior to its
ban, mephedrone was sold and packaged in a similar way, to keep the
drug on the right side of the law.

The Sunday Herald also rang one online supplier who claimed to be
liaising with "leading research chemists" in China to develop
replacement substances. Previously, he had sold mephedrone.

The Glasgow-based supplier, who would only give his name as Keith,
said: "When I first set up the website selling mephedrone, I wanted
it to be completely legitimately. No dodgy cash deals, pay my income
tax, while giving excellent service with a quality product at the
right price.

"In the first weeks, I bought my stock inside Britain, but I then
began buying direct from a manufacturer in China, as it was cheaper.
My business was running smoothly, with a turnover of about #5,000 a
week. Then mephedrone hit the headlines. Its use was blamed for the
death of teenagers and then everything changed."

He continued: "On Friday, mephedrone was banned and I closed down
the website. Now, the taxman will lose hundreds of thousands of
pounds and the criminals will step in. Now the millions who are
stopped from getting mephedrone legally will either buy illegally or
try something new.

"No government, Labour or Tory, would have had the courage to
exercise the level of common sense needed to keep it legal. Now,
like hundreds of other businessmen who sold mephedrone, I will find
another legal high to sell on a new website and I'm already in touch
with Chinese suppliers who can offer me a similar product.

"Am I comfortable with the concept of selling legal highs? No.

"But I don't want to lose mine and my children's home. So the
decision has been made."