A MOTHER from Exeter whose young daughter almost died because of her addiction to 'legal highs' has led calls for a crackdown on the industry.
A judge has ordered two shopkeepers Simon Tomlin and Paris Newton to pay more than £210,000 in fines, costs and confiscation orders after they admitted having banned substances at their shops.
The penalties imposed at Exeter Crown Court came at the end of a long legal battle which is seen by the police to be a key test case in their efforts to control the industry in designer drugs.
Tomlin and Newton were co-directors of one of the region's biggest legal high businesses and ran shops in Exeter, Exmouth, Torquay and Taunton.
They are the first to be convicted in the country for such offences on such a scale.
And one city woman, who is not being named to avoid identifying her daughter, said she hoped the convictions of would build momentum for action to be taken.
Her daughter, who is under the age of 16, has been taking legal highs for more than a year and has ended up in hospital several times as a result.
On one occasion the family were told she was "not expected to make it through the night."
She said: "My daughter is regularly taking legal highs that are bought for her by adults from the shop in Exeter. The problem is she said she is taking something legal and will not accept she has a problem.
"But they have made her very ill. She has been in hospital four times through overdosing and she is addicted to them.
"These have almost killed my daughter. After the last one she admitted having halluncinations and it did frighten her and she said she would never take it again. A week later she was back on it.
"We really need to raise the profile of this to other parents as kids think this is ok.
"The worst incident came when she had a fit after she had taken a susbtance known as King B. Doctors thought she was not going to get through the night.
"I know what they were prosecuted for selling illegal substances but we need to look at the issue as a whole. They are bringing out new ones all the time to get around the legislation.
"We are distraught as parents. There is support for the young person if they admit they have a problem. The stumbling block here is they don't see that they have a problem.
"There needs to be government legislation and they need to use this case to start clamping down. You only have to look at their website and it is quite obvious what they are selling it for.
"It is so stressful and very upsetting and we really need to build some momentum on the back of this case.
"There should be something in place to support the families. Yet there is seemingly nothing we can do. We really don't know what to do. Our big fear is that she will overdose on this stuff. I also worry it is causing her brain damage.
"When we try and talk to her we are met with denial and anger. She doesn't see it as a problem and think we are overreacting.
"It is a really big problem – this stuff is awful and is a wide-spread problem. Things need to change. It may be legal but it really alters how they are. She is out of it and off her head."
Simon Tomlin, owner of the Hush chain, was unavailable to comment yesterday. But he previously told the Echo the substances are sold as research chemicals.
He said a lot of customers are professionals who are looking for an alternative to illegal substances.
The Hush shops have a "no ID no service" policy, and Simon is voluntarily and regularly in touch with Trading Standards officials.
"What people do with them is up to them," he said. "We try to educate people and we operate a strict over-18s policy."
He agreed it is a concern that it is hard to know the effects of legal highs, but called for better regulation of drugs, such as the legalisation of MDMA and cannabis, which could reduce their demand.
