With what seems to be an ever increasing problem of legal highs having serious effects on the lives of those who partake in them on a social level. Should employers be concerned about the effect they could have on their employees and are the effects of these legal substances finding their way into the workplace?
Legal highs
So what is a legal high? They are in the main substances that when taken mimic the effect of illegal substances, unfortunately the use of them is at this time not illegal. The effects of these substances like their illegal counterparts will have varying effects on the user. It is therefore important that employers are aware of the impact usage may have on their employees.
Key points
Many so called "legal highs" are already illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act but new substances - yet to be controlled - continue to emerge on the market. The drugs imitate the effects on users of more traditional illegal substances. During 2014 in England, Scotland and Wales there were a reported 129 deaths where new psychoactive substances were implicated. There is currently legislation going through Parliament to ban the supply of these drugs based on their psychoactive effects. Employers should consider legal highs when writing their drug and alcohol policies.The recent past has seen an increase in the use and sale of these so called ‘legal highs’. Unfortunately the Misuse of Drugs Act does not ban these legal highs, psychoactive drugs or New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). Although they cannot and should not be sold for human consumption quite often they are packaged as bath salts, incense or even plant
food. The make-up of these substances are synthetic chemical compounds that then mimic the effect of the illegal counterparts such as speed and cannabis.
The ingredients that the legal highs contain are untested especially on humans and as such there is no way of predicting the effects. There is a range of effects that these drugs can have on the users but in general they are used as stimulants like ‘downers’ or hallucinogens.
These products are sold in shops and online in an open manner and are marketed as legal, meaning that users will not and may not understand the effects usage may have on them. Even though the substances at this point are legal usage is likely to be banned in the workplace under a company’s drugs and alcohol policy.
The Psychoactive Substances Bill
May 2015 saw an announcement by the Government in respect of new legislation in an attempt to control the use of the psychoactive substances.
Prohibition, disruption of production, distribution, sale and supply of these substances within the UK are the primary objectives of the Psychoactive Substances Bill which is currently progressing through Parliament.
This new legislation will place a blanket ban on all psychoactive substances or those that have a mind altering effect. Items such as alcohol and coffee as well as medicines that are regulated elsewhere will be on a list of exemptions that will be introduced by the legislation along with drugs that are banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
More information on the Bill can be found from UK Parliament - Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL] 2015-16.
Managing the use of drugs in the workplace
An organisation’s alcohol and drugs policy does not have to limit itself to what is and isn’t allowed in law. As we know the use and consumption of alcohol is not illegal but a good majority of companies will have a ban or at the very least a limit on how much alcohol can be consumed during office or working hours. Therefore, companies should take the same approach to legal highs and build in the same limitations to these substances into Alcohol and drugs policies.
Some companies may well have a drug and alcohol abuse testing written in to their policies, this principle may well work for substances that are easily traceable, however quite often the compounds that make up these legal highs change and so detection will be more challenging. Perhaps the better tack is to focus on the effects these substances have on individuals and the way in which they conduct themselves within the workplace in terms of their attitude and behaviour and the employee’s ability to fulfil the tasks of their job and not necessarily on the drugs.
When considering the insertion of a clause into a policy on alcohol and drugs, encouragement to seek help will be of more use along with an education program for staff and line managers to heighten awareness of the signs and symptoms of use.
The approach that should be taken when dealing with anyone misusing legal highs should be consistent to the approach used when drug or alcohol misuse is detected in the workplace,
ACAS has produced advice on Dealing with someone who has a drug or alcohol problem.
