The Local Government’s Association call for so-called legal highs to be banned is a welcome move to act on a growing problem facing society.

Bradford has seen the local authority and the police grapple with the particular difficulties this new substance menace poses.

Although it is possible to outlaw individual types of legal highs – known officially as new psychoactive substances (NPS) – as was done with mephedrone, there is no blanket ban on them.

Because of that, each time an individual one is outlawed, another similar drug is manufactured to take its place.

The name ‘legal high’ doesn’t convey the dangers associated with NPS; their effects are unpredictable and can be deadly, with several deaths in the UK linked to their usage, including a father who bought a legal high online from China which tests showed was five times stronger than heroin.

Of course, if people didn’t use them in the first place, there would be no market, and the best advice is not to take anything like this at all.

Sadly, youth, peer pressure, and a multitude of other factors lead people to seek some sort of pleasure or escape through substance abuse, so they will continue to be bought, no matter what the warnings.

The only way to tackle this issue is to find a way to ban the generic group of these drugs, not just specific examples proven to be dangerous. They will no doubt still be available through the black market, but at least regulation means anyone who buys them knows they are not only breaking the law, but, more importantly, putting themselves in danger.