Scotland and New Psychoactive Substances

A collaborative research project geared towards understanding the patterns of use, motives and harms of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) - commonly referred to as ‘Legal Highs’ - in Scotland has recently published its findings. Amongst the study’s conclusions, notable are:

• The use of NPS in Scotland is relatively widespread.
• Key reasons for taking NPS include ease of access, curiosity, peer pressure, pleasure, price and potency.
• The negative effects of NPS are multiple and, broadly speaking, include mental and physical harms, as well as social consequences.
• Around a third of NPS users in Scotland have no interaction with treatment services.

One key recommendation to come out of the investigation, which was carried out by representatives of the Scottish Drugs Forum and the University of Glasgow, is that there should be an improved partnership between substance use and mental health services in Scotland.

Click here to read the full report.