Legal Highs, are they dangerous?

We all know about the dangers of certain illegal drugs if not all of em. We know about science finding connections with mental illness, physical illness and even death related to the different drugs out there. Some folks steer well clear of these dangers and wouldn't touch these substances with a barge pole! Others feel they are willing to take the risks. With all the government backed education programs out there you cant say you didn't know that such and such would do that. Individual feelings are an argument for another page or place, I do not wish to change or persuade anyone to do anything outside of their personal values, if you take risks at least you know what they are and if you avoid them far be it for me to want to change that.

What I want to talk about here are the legal highs. There are a number on offer here in Europe and they may well make it over the pond to the states. Some of these are herbal and in theory have been used by shamans and others for a long time, this is the argument for why they are legal and for the sellers to sell them. There are however new synthetic chemical drugs out there to simulate the effects of illegal drugs, but legally. I have spent the better part of today doing searches for any relevant studies into the long term effects and side effects and have come up with ziltch. I have mostly found sites with people selling these legal highs, people supporting them, and a few news reports about how little we know.

It seems there are legal alternatives to just about everything, from marijuana to heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, and even LSD.

I guess the question is why is it legal? Is it because it is still so new that there is no evidence of danger? If this is the reason, do you want to be the guinea pig who finds out the dangers, or your friends and family? I do know that in some places at least controlled substances have to be proven to be dangerous to be banned, tho I do not know what is considered dangerous and who does what where. There is also the phenomenon that once one chemical compound is banned a molecule or two is changed, creating a new chemical compound similar to the first can be a loophole keeping something dangerous technically legal.

I would like to advise my readers to think about what they are putting into your bodies. Do you really know the story behind whatever it is you are, smoking, snorting or pill popping? Do you want to be the medical worlds guinea pig? Before you take something don't you think it might be an idea to see what research has been done into possible side effects and long term effects? You may still decide to give it a go and I don't mean to stop you, just give you the chance to make an informed decision.

Personally I feel more worried about these legal highs then some of the illegal ones, we just don't know how bad these things could get, remember Thalidomide?