Acas have published advice on how to set drug and alcohol policies and manage staff under the influence of legal ‘highs’. Acas point out that legal highs are largely substances which imitate the effects of illegal drugs when consumed, but are not actually illegal themselves. As with illegal drugs, they can have a range of effects on users and employers should consider their impact on their employees and workplaces. During 2014 in England, Scotland and Wales there were a reported 129 deaths where new psychoactive substances were implicated. There is currently legislation going through Parliament to ban the supply of these drugs based on their psychoactive effects. Employers should consider legal highs when writing or reviewing their drug and alcohol policies, taking into account that such policies don’t have to be limited to what is and isn’t allowed in the law.

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