Family relief at bid to ban drug that killed Jamie

New laws were being unveiled today by the Government.

The Queen's Speech, during today's state opening of parliament, was expected to include a commitment from the Government to outlaw so-called legal highs.

Charlotte Delo, whose brother Jamie Penn died after taking the drug a year ago, said she was "absolutely delighted" action was finally being taken.

Before the General Election, Mrs Delo had received a letter from former Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone outlining the Government's commitment to outlining the drug.

"I am delighted that there is to be a ban on legal highs as this can stop people buying them locally, but we will continue to raise awareness on the danger of legal highs and to teach people to say no to a legal high when under peer pressure," she said.

Mr Delo has organised a football tournament which will be held on Sunday, the first anniversary of Mr Penn's death, to raise awareness of the dangers.

Mr Penn, who was 29, died on May 31 last year after taking drugs he had purchased at an address in Shrewsbury.

The tournament will take place at Hadley Learning Centre, between 10am and 4pm. Mrs Delo said a number of her brother's friends would be playing in the tournament, with Telford & Wrekin Council, and Telford Aftercare Team – which provides support to people recovering from addictions – also fielding teams.

"Jamie was a big Man United fan, he played a lot of football in his younger days and was a very talented footballer," said Mrs Delo.

She said funds raised during the event would go to providing a headstone for Jamie, with anything left over going to Wellington Christ Church.

Mrs Delo added: "We're hoping to make it an annual event to raise awareness of the dangers of these legal highs."

Mr Penn died after taking a drug known as 4,4-DMAR, combined with the illegal drug MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy. It is believed that the two drugs reacted together, causing Mr Penn to lose his life.

An inquest held in February heard that Mr Penn, of Telford but of no fixed address, had bought the legal high from a young woman in Shrewsbury after visiting her house during the early hours of the morning.

He had taken ecstasy the night before, and lost the use of his speech and started foaming at the mouth before. He was pronounced dead after being taken to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.

Taking 4,4-DMAR can cause serious side effects including psychotic symptoms, hypothermia, foaming at the mouth, breathing problems and cardiac arrest, especially after a high dose or in combination with other drugs.

Since her brother's death Mrs Delo, who is 28, has been visiting schools across Telford talking about the dangers of the drugs.

"I think it has been going very well, Telford & Wrekin Council have been very supportive," she said.

Mrs Delo, of Haybridge Road, Hadley, added that Telford's new mayor, Councillor Leon Murry had thrown his support behind the campaign against the drugs.

She said the drugs were still being sold openly at car cruises and from a supermarket car park in the town.

Mrs Delo added: "Me and Jamie were always there for each other. I feel bad that I wasn't there with him when he died, but if we can save one more person or teach more people not to take this thing then something positive will be able to come out of it.

"I don't want anyone else's family to go through what we have been through.

"I have lost my brother, and it has been the same for my husband, because I was young when we met, and Jamie was like a brother to Delwyn."

Mr Delo, who is also 28, said the thing that made the legal highs particularly dangerous were that they were such an unknown quantity.

"We know what the effects of the illegal drugs are, but nothing is known about the legal drugs yet," he said.

"We don't know whether, 20 years down the line, people will be left with deformities, whether they will be unable to use their legs, we just don't know."

The Queen's Speech will effectively create a blanket ban on drugs currently sold as a legal high.

Authorities have attempted to control the drugs through temporary bans on the specific chemical compound of the drug. But manufacturers attempt to get round bans by altering the chemical make-up of the drugs to create a new substance. The new law will make it a requirement for substances to be fit for human consumption before they are sold.

The Local Government Association last week called for a ban on the sale of every psychoactive drug except tobacco and alcohol.

It came after a group of students were rushed to hospital after taking a legal high, initially thought to be the outlawed cannabis substitute Spice.

The association's Councillor Ann Lucas said: "Legal highs are untested, unpredictable and a potential death sentence.

"Nobody can be sure of their contents or the effects that they could have."

Last month, Lincoln City Council introduced a by-law giving police the power to seize the drugs from anybody thought to have taken them in public.