LONDON, February 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The only UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of 'legal highs', the Angelus Foundation, has lent its support to Lincoln Council's ban today on using these substances in their city.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140722/697697-a )
Angelus has been calling for a fundamental legal change to disrupt the supply of these legal drugs. The Government is now committed to bringing in the necessary law "at the earliest opportunity" but that may be some months away. Police forces and trading standards have been using existing laws to seize and destroy stocks as well as imposing temporary Closure Orders.
Chief Executive of Angelus Jan King said, "Lincoln Council have shown Local Authorities can use some existing laws to tackle the anti-social behaviour often associated with their use in city centres. We have asked the Drugs Minister, Lynne Featherstone, to encourage police forces to seek closure orders against problematic headshops. These sellers of legal highs have shown precious little concern for the individual harms they cause people, particularly vulnerable people like the homeless. They have now shown equal disregard for community safety around their shops.
"In the absence of a far-reaching law, we support action under existing laws to reduce the harms from these unpredictable untested substances. Angelus's purpose is to educate people about the risks and harms from these legal substances but we cannot stay silent when they are so easily accessible."
Notes to editors:
1. Maryon Stewart lost her 21 year old daughter, Hester, to GBL in 2009 and established the Angelus Foundation. It is the only drugs charity dedicated to combating legal highs and club drugs and has previously launched a national campaign including the website http://www.whynotfindout.org. There is also a site for families http://www.angelusfoundation.com which includes several films informing young people about how to stay safe.
2. Angelus has produced several films to make young people more aware of the harms and unpredictability of substances such as Clockwork Orange, Pink Panther and Charley Sheen. Their schools film 'Not What it Says on the Tin' has been shown to strongly influence 95% of those who viewed it away from 'legal highs'. Angelus's new film is 'Lab Rats' http://www.angelusfoundation.com/media/videos/angelus-pfc-film/
3. If you wish to interview Angelus CEO, Jan King, or for any press enquiries please contact: Jeremy Sare at the Angelus Foundation on +44-(0)7747-727-993 (Jeremysare@angelusfoundation.com )
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