Two men and a woman from Belfast have been convicted in a landmark legal case over the sale of so-called legal highs in Northern Ireland.
Ian Brown, Ashley Campbell and Susan Bradshaw all admitted failing to comply with safety regulations by distributing a dangerous product at a city centre shop.
Their convictions, in a case brought by Belfast City Council, represent the first successful prosecution for sale of "legal highs" in the UK.
Legal highs - or their more appropriate name, Novel or New Psychoactive Substances - are drugs that stimulate or depress the central nervous system in a way that mimics banned substances such as cannabis or cocaine.
hemical compounds are synthesised in labs so that they fall outside international drug controls – at least when they first emerge.
Newtownards teenager Adam Owens (17) died hours after taking legal highs in April.
There have been calls from the DUP and from within Westminster for new laws to ban the substances, but a "delighted" spokesperson said the council had demonstrated that existing legislation - the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 - can be used to prosecute sellers.
Source: Belfast Telegraph, 27/05/2015
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