Councils ask shops to hand over mephedrone
By Richard Chidwick
Shopkeepers are working with trading standards officers to clear their shelves of mephedrone before it is banned tomorrow.
The legal high known as ‘meow meow’ is being banned following the rise in users who have suffered health effects including possible fatalities.
Calls to ban the amphetamine-like drug were made in March when two teenagers both died after taking it.
Councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association body which oversees regulatory services, said: “The law on so-called legal highs has been too murky for too long.
“Councils are seeing more mephedrone users and their families turning to them for help, advice and support and it will be a relief to many people to see the substance made illegal.”
Trading standards officers are contacting shops selling mephedrone offering them the chance to get rid of the drug before Friday, when it becomes an offence to deal in the substance.
Mr Bettison said: “Council staff have not being idle ahead of the change in the rules. Work has been taking place to ensure supplies of mephedrone are handed over to the authorities, so that this potentially damaging drug is cleared from shelves as quickly as possible.”
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