Legal highs may give you a high for some time but its addiction can cost you dear, especially when the drugs are bought online.
A hospital consultant’s ‘shy’ son has died when he accidentally took an overdose of legal highs that he bought over the internet in a bid to tackle his shyness.
Legal high is a drug that is taken for pleasure and has the same effect as an illegal drug, but has not been made illegal.
Tom Elrington, 30, was found dead by a flatmate at his home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, after taking a cocktail of drugs.
He had been suffering from social anxiety.
A report in The Times said Tom had become addicted to benzodiazepines and Pyrazolam, which can be bought for just a few pounds online, according to his parents – Giles Elrington, 59, a consultant at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, and Alison Elrington, 55, a former nurse.They believe he died as a result of taking a cocktail of drugs, although it is not known exactly what Tom had taken before he died. His death is not being treated as suspicious.
His parents are now calling for more awareness of the dangers of buying legal and illegal drugs cheaply online.
These finely packaged legal highs may promise youngsters the time of their lives but don’t fall for them. Some websites sell prescription and over-the-counter drugs that may not be safe to use and could put people's health at risk. The US Food and Drug Administration warns that these rogue sites often sell unapproved drugs, drugs that contain the wrong active ingredient, drugs that may contain too much or too little of the active ingredient, or drugs that contain dangerous ingredients.
