A north-east campaigner has called for an outright ban on all so-called legal highs.
Ross Thomson said significant legislation was needed to stop shops from selling new psychoactive substances (NPS) which have been implicated in dozens of deaths in Scotland in recent years.
The Aberdeen Conservative councillor spoke out after it was announced yesterday that an expert group is to be set up to look at ways of tackling the sale and supply of legal highs.
The panel will review the powers available to authorities, like the police and trading standards departments, to crack down on the substances.
The UK Government placed banning orders on four types of the legal high N-Bomb and the legal substance Benzo Fury last June after they were linked to deaths.
Legal highs are often labelled and sold as plant food or bath salts, or marked as not fit for human consumption, as a tactic to avoid the law.
They are easily accessible online and have been found on sale at petrol stations, newsagents and takeaways.
Between 2009 and 2012, NPS – produced to have similar effects to drugs such as ecstasy – were implicated in 73 deaths in Scotland.
In 14 of the cases it was the only substance taken prior to death.
Community safety minister Roseanna Cunningham made the announcement as she prepared to attend the British-Irish Council on the Misuse of Substances in Dublin yesterday.
She said that while drugs legislation and the legality of legal highs was the responsibility of Westminster, the Scottish Government was “determined” to do what it can to restrict access to them and educate people about the dangers.
Mr Thomson said: “It is absolutely essential that both the UK and Scottish governments work together and work with other devolved authorities to rid the scourge of legal highs from our streets.
“I welcome the expert group and hope that it moves quickly as the availability of legal highs is growing.
“In my own view we need significant changes to legislation and an outright ban.
“It is clear that police and authorities need more powers from government in order to take further enforcement action.”
An announcement on the group membership is expected later.