London: Pizzas spiked with chemicals that can get people high is becoming a trend among pizzerias across the UK and in the north of England in particular.
‘Legal high’, which mimic the effects of illegal narcotics such as cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy, are untested and unclassified drugs that could have serious and unpredictable effects on users, the Daily Star reported. However, as it is against the law to sell the chemicals for human consumption, retailers often label them as incense, bath salts or plant food to avoid getting caught.
A drug misuse worker has said that there is one pizzeria in central Newcastle that has been accused of actively promoting chemicals as ‘added toppings’ and it is very worrying given that there is often not enough research about legal highs to know about their potency, adverse effects from human consumption or when used with other substances or alcohol.
The takeaway shop came under fire in 2011 after it was accused of supplying legal highs to a 21-year-old woman with her food, which left her fighting for her life in hospital after she collapsed outside the shop just 30 seconds after she ingested the substance.
A spokesman for the charity Addaction, which supports drug addicts, said legal highs are more available in the North East than elsewhere in England, the Mirror reported.
He said: “Instead of only being available in so-called head shops, legal highs are in more mainstream outlets in the region, like garages and takeaways, and news that they are being sold as pizza toppings is deeply concerning.â€
“When people take these they don’t know what’s going to happen. Just because they are called legal doesn’t mean they’re fine; they just haven’t been classified. They can result in psychotic episodes, hallucinations and people not feeling part of reality, which can lead to taking unnecessary risks.â€
“People end up using them to help managing parts of their life and it becomes more worrying when they effectively self-medicate on their own,†he added.