Warning over new 'legal high' drugs

7 March 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET

The rise of new "legal high" drugs in south Wales has the potential to cause even more problems than those from the influx of mephedrone, a drugs charity is warning.

Swansea-based Sands Cymru says local drug agencies and the police were "caught out" by the speed with which mephedrone, known as meow meow, spread.

It will host a conference in Swansea on Thursday to address the problem.

Last year the number of people taking the drug rose in south west Wales.

Mephedrone is more than twice as prevalent in Wales as it was in 2011, a police report suggested in October last year.

We must be more prepared for the emergence of any new drugs and the associated physical and psychological health

Until April 2010 it was considered a "legal high", but given its potency and powerful side effects the drug was reclassified.

Potential side effects can include fits, memory loss, potentially fatal heart problems and brain damage.

Dr Adam Winstock, consultant psychiatrist and founder of Global Drugs Survey, is speaking at Thursday's conference.

Read more:
Warning over new 'legal high' drugs