April 25, 2013 3.14 pm This story is over 143 months old

Three men arrested after legal highs raid at Lincoln shop

Controlled drugs suspicion: Three men have been arrested after police raided a shop in Lincoln on Thursday and seized so called “legal highs”.

Three men have been arrested after police raided a shop in Lincoln on Thursday and seized a quantity of so called “legal highs” due to a suspicion that they may contain controlled drugs.

Lincolnshire Police executed a search warrant at the Head Candy shop on Melville Street in Lincoln on Thursday morning and confiscated a number of substances marketed as “legal highs”.

A 42-year-old local man, a 24-year-old local man and a 19-year-old local man have been arrested and are being questioned by police.

Police said the action comes after concerns raised by members of the public and local schools.

Over the past few months officers have received continued reports of people turning up at hospital, concerned for their health after taking these substances.

Symptoms have included headaches, racing heart rates, panic and paranoia.

Photo: @MK_UL7RA via Twitter

Photo: @MK_UL7RA via Twitter

Photo: Philip Woodlock

Photo: Philip Woodlock

Schools report pupils taking legal highs

Over the last six months schools have also reported concerns for pupils taking “legal highs,” police said. In some cases they have described them falling asleep in class.

At present there are a small number of “head shops” in the county that are openly selling “legal highs”. Many of the products on sale are legal, but some, when tested in the past, have contained controlled drugs.

“Legal Highs” are not licensed and there is no obligation for them to be put through the same rigorous testing regimes as other products. As a result, the authorities have more power to act to prevent the sale of counterfeit cosmetics than they do to prevent the sale of potentially poisonous substances being ingested by young people in Lincolnshire.

Officers are urging young people not to take these substances, whether they are legal or not and encouraging parents to educate themselves in this area so they can provide their children with sensible advice.

If you or your children have experienced any ill effects from taking substances like this in Lincoln then please call DI Katrina Morton at Lincoln Police Station via the non emergency 101 number.

Note: Story updated to reflect Head Candy is a separate, unrelated business to the tattoo studio at the back of the shop.