What is Spice?

Spice is a synthetic drug made up of herbs and man-made chemicals that, when ingested, causes mind-altering effects.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Sep 2018, 10:58 GMT
Updated 17th Sep 2018, 12:02 GMT
The class B drug SpiceThe class B drug Spice
The class B drug Spice

The class B drug could be bought legally in shops until 2016.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, sSpice was mentioned by patients in A&E 28,531 times in 2011.

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Possible side effects of the drug include fast heart rate, vomiting, anxiety, confusion, violent behaviour and suicidal thoughts.

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No end in sight to the Spice scourge in Blackpool

In December, The Guardian reported that prison staff in the UK had been inundated with prisoners smuggling Spice into jails.

Figures from the Crown Prosecution Service showed 504 offences relating to Spice and other psychoactive drugs since May 2016.

According to the Office for National Statistics, between 2004 and 2013, there were 76 deaths involving ‘legal highs’ in England and Wales.

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The majority of deaths involving legal highs are males (five out of six deaths).

This is slightly higher than the male to female ratio seen for drug misuse deaths, where about three-quarters of the deaths are males.