The Scottish Government has urged pub and club owners across the country to follow the lead of north-east licensees and ban a “legal high” drug that has been linked to the deaths of two teenagers in England.
Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Smith, 19, had taken mephedrone, commonly known as Bubbles or Mcat, before they died in Scunthorpe in Yorkshire.
The drug is sold on the internet as a plant food, but concern has been growing about its use as a recreational drug following the death of a woman in Dunfermline last year.
It emerged yesterday that the UK Government’s drug advisers could recommend a ban on mephedrone within weeks, with Lord Mandelson promising that the legality of the drug would be examined “very speedily, very carefully”.
Licensees in Aberdeen have already taken a stand – and last month the city’s biggest venues joined forces to ban the drug and anyone caught using it from their premises.
Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said the rest of Scotland should follow suit. “The Scottish Government supports any and all efforts that dispel the myth that so-called legal highs are safe,” he said.
“I congratulate and support the Aberdeen pubs and clubs who have taken proactive steps to protect their customers and ban legal highs from their premises. I would urge pubs and clubs across Scotland to take similar action.”
Members of the Unight Aberdeen group of venues, which includes Tiger Tiger, the Tunnels and Soul, now ban any revellers caught with the white powder. The move has been backed by Grampian Police.
Mr Ewing said the UK Government, which has responsibility for banning or reclassifying drugs, must act quickly to tackle mephedrone’s soaring popularity among young people.
He added: “I have written again today to the Home Office to seek assurance that, as soon as the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs makes its recommendations to UK ministers, that they will be ready to take speedy action.
“It is important that the perception of legitimacy that surrounds so-called legal highs, and specifically mephedrone, is urgently dispelled.”
Mike Burns, chief executive of Dundee-based charity Cair Scotland, said there has been a “dramatic increase” in reported Bubbles use in Tayside.
He said: “As long as Bubbles is legal, many people will assume it is safe to use. We believe that mephedrone should be classified to protect the health of children and young people putting themselves at risk through its use.”
Dundee drug support agency Addaction described the city as a mephedrone “hotbed”, while Scotland’s head teachers’ association called for “clarity”.
Ken Cunningham, general secretary of School Leaders Scotland, said the nature of legal drugs was changing at a “frightening rate” and more had to be done to educate children about the dangers.
Westminster’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is likely to issue a report on a group of legal highs, including mephedrone, at the end of this month.
Ministers could then indicate support for a ban in principle – but the process of banning it could take many more months.
Opposition parties attacked the UK Government for not doing enough to tackle the threat.
The ACMD discussed mephedrone in October, but at the end of that month Home Secretary Alan Johnson sacked his chief drug adviser, Professor David Nutt, after he claimed ecstasy and cocaine were less harmful than alcohol.
His sacking prompted the resignation of Les King, who chaired the group looking into mephedrone.
The Home Office denied the sacking of Prof Nutt had led to “inordinate delays” in the committee’s work. But Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, said “political meddling” by Mr Johnson had pushed back the research.
The Tories said they would introduce a new system allowing legal highs to be banned for up to a year while they were being analysed.
Yesterday, Prof Nutt said it would be premature to “rush” into classifying mephedrone.
“Such decisions need to be based on sound science,” he said. “Some previously reported mephedrone deaths have also turned out to be false alarms.”
However, Mr Smith’s father, Tony, has backed calls for a ban.