The Government must outlaw the sale of potentially lethal legal highs which are becoming ‘endemic’ on the country’s highs streets, councils say.

Research by the Local Government Association (LGA) of 18 councils across the country most affected by legal highs reveals every authority was aware of them being sold, often over the counter in ‘head shops’.

Deaths from legal highs have more than doubled in the past four years from 26 in 2009 to 60 last year. They killed far more people than ecstasy (43 in 2013), latest figures reveal. The synthetic ‘psychoactive’ drugs, which usually have lurid names like ‘Clockwork Orange’, ‘Bliss’ and ‘Mary Jane’, have been directly linked to poisoning, emergency hospital admissions including in mental health services and, in some cases, deaths. They dodge drugs laws by being sold as ‘not fit for human consumption’, bypassing chemical compositions which are already banned. They are often advertised as plant food or research chemicals.

Now the LGA, which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales – who last year took over responsibility for public health – is calling for a complete ban on the sale of all legal highs.

The LGA, which stresses this is about targeting sellers, wants the UK to follow legislation introduced in Ireland four years ago. This bans the sale of all ‘psychoactive’ (brain altering) drugs and then exempts some, such as alcohol and tobacco. Currently, the system here works the other way round. The Irish legislation has effectively eliminated all ‘head shops’ that sell legal highs.

Councils spend about 30 per cent (£830million a year) of their entire public health budget on drug and alcohol misuse – more than any other service. They argue this clamp-down would help reduce this staggering sum – so funds could be freed up for other health priorities.

Cllr Ann Lucas, OBE, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “These are not legal highs – they are lethal highs and they are deceptively dangerous. As they are unregulated, no one knows what is really in them or what effect they will have. Young people are playing Russian roulette with their health and sometimes their lives.

“The effects of some of these lethal highs can be truly terrifying – delirium, stupor, hallucinations, coma and even death.

“This is all about tackling the sellers. Legal high shops are becoming endemic to our high streets, which is why we are calling on the Government to introduce robust and vigorous new laws to tackle them. The sooner we put these so-called ‘head shops’ out of business for good the better.

“As soon as one legal high is outlawed another one, with a slightly different chemical composition, will spring up. Trading Standards officers are doing a magnificent job trying to tackle this spiralling issue but, because the legislation is so inadequate, they are effectively fighting a war with one hand behind their back.

“A key priority is educating and informing younger people about the dangers and risks of these drugs and councils play a pivotal role in this.”