THE BAN on legal highs will cause more harm than good, according to a Police and Crime Commissioner battling prohibition.

A government ban on psychoactive substances came into force today (Thursday, May 26), outlawing the production, distribution, sale and supply of so-called legal highs.

Suppliers of such substances – designed to mimic the effects of illicit drugs – now face up to seven years in prison.

After struggling for years to tackle issues around the consumption and supply of life-threatening legal highs, the region’s police forces and health authorities have largely welcomed the new law.

However, Durham and Darlington Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg believes the “sloppy” legislation will risk lives, rather than save them.

Mr Hogg hit international headlines in 2015 after controversially calling for the decriminalisation of drug users while saying Durham Constabulary would no longer actively pursue cannabis users.

Today, he claimed the new law around legal highs would cause problems by driving drug use dangerously underground.

Mr Hogg joins a growing number of critics who believe prohibition will force users to obtain supplies from a market dominated by drug dealers and a flourishing online black market.

Reiterating his long-standing invitation to the government to engage in a debate around drug reforms, he said: “This has not been well thought through and there has been a lack of consultation with key stakeholders and advisors

“The very reason these drugs came to exist is down to existing drug laws and prohibition.

“What the government has not done is learned from countries like Portugal and Ireland, who created similar legislation ten years ago and saw use grow after being driven underground.

“Prohibition will close down shops in the UK and force people – some of whom are vulnerable - to go to drug dealers or online.

“The dealers will give them their psychoactive substances but will probably offer them little tasters of drugs like heroin and cocaine to go with them – that is a grave concern.”

Mr Hogg also claimed the authorities would struggle to bring prosecutions and were already unable to control the problem of legal highs in prison.

He said: “They’re one of the biggest problems in prison and if we can’t control availability of drugs within prisons, what chance do we have in the community?”

Durham Constabulary’s chief constable, Mike Barton, said the force welcomed the government’s differentiation between users and dealers.

He added: "I share Ron Hogg's concerns that the tapestry of enforcement and treatment in the UK is not having the desired effect when protecting people from drugs.

"As a senior police chief, it is too early for me to speculate on the potential unintended consequences of new legislation - my focus is to make sure the new law is enforced."

Northumbria’s PCC Vera Baird – along with representatives from councils, the North East Ambulance Service, Northumbria, Cleveland and North Yorkshire Police - welcomed the law.