U.K. ENLISTS BANS TO STOP NARCOTICS

The U.K. is giving its law-enforcement authorities extra powers to
fight a wave of new narcotics known as "legal highs."

The drugs are often legal when they hit the market because authorities
haven't yet seen and banned them. With names such as Meow Meow and
NRG-1, the drugs have been popular in Europe. New synthetic
cannabinoids that are similar to marijuana also have appeared widely
in the U.S.

It can take authorities months to catch wind of a new drug and ban it.
The U.K. says it is trying to shrink that interval by allowing
law-enforcement agencies to issue immediate bans of up to 12 months on
new substances, until full reviews can be carried out.

"The drugs market is changing and we need to adapt current laws to
allow us to act more quickly," James Brokenshire, minister for crime
prevention at the Home Office, said in a statement.

"The temporary ban allows us to act straight away to stop new
substances gaining a foothold in the market."

"Legal highs" are often sold as powders that can be snorted or packed
into tablets. They create highs that mimic those from a range of drugs
including cocaine and ecstasy.

The new drugs have been blamed for the deaths of two young people in
the U.K. and Sweden, and authorities say they may have contributed to
as many as 30 deaths in the U.K. in recent years.

The temporary U.K. bans will allow police and border guards to
confiscate new drugs, the Home Office statement said.

People dealing the drugs after a temporary ban is in place will face a
maximum of 14 years in prison. Possession of a temporarily banned drug
for personal use won't be considered a crime.

Drugs may be temporarily banned after an "initial consideration by the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs," or ACMD, a body that advises
the government on drug policy, the statement said.

The ACMD would then carry out a full review to decide whether the drug
should be permanently banned.

The U.K., Sweden and Germany all recently banned one of the most
popular drugs, mephedrone, or Meow Meow, which appeared in 2007. The
U.K. also recently banned naphyrone, or NRG-1, which surfaced after
the mephedrone ban.

A number of U.S. states and counties have banned synthetic
cannabinoids called Spice and K2, which are similar to marijuana.