Editorial: Ban it: End this horror

Legal highs should be banned.

How many horror stories do we have to hear before legal highs are banned once and for all?

How many local councils will have to come up with work-around rules to control their sale in our cities?

On Saturday, April 5, protesters will take to the streets all over the country, including Rotorua, demonstrating against the Psychoactive Substances Act which allows synthetic recreational drugs to be sold legally if they can be shown through scientific testing to have only a low risk of harm.

Worried parents have written to this newspaper, concerned about the damage done to their children.

A Facebook page set up to support the ban of synthetic cannabis in Rotorua has had hundreds of likes, and our council is in the process of bringing in a policy that would place stringent restrictions on the location, density and number of licensed premises permitted to operate in Rotorua district, effectively driving legal high retailers out of the central city.

All of this could have been avoided had these products been banned in the first place.

Politicians have argued a complete ban would create a black market and a new wave of criminals. It's a big leap to say all those using legal highs would automatically descend into the criminal underworld - although it's clear addictions make strong demands on their victims.

But a ban is only necessary because legal highs made it to our shop shelves in the first place.

Many people are clearly unhappy with the situation, and are doing what they can to deal with it.

But really we need strong leadership from Parliament and active support for local communities' clear desire to be rid of legal highs.