Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Glenrothes High pupils took ‘legal high’ during their lunch break

Six youngsters from Glenrothes High School were given medical checks.
Six youngsters from Glenrothes High School were given medical checks.

Pupils at a Fife secondary school have been told they risked their lives after taking so-called legal highs during their lunch break.

Up to six youngsters at Glenrothes High School were given the all-clear following medical checks and police were called in to investigate.

Although none of the pupils suffered any lasting effects as a result of taking the unknown substance, school rector Ruth McFarlane said she is “concerned” by the ease with which legal highs can be accessed.

She reassured parents that the school is doing what it can to provide drug education to youngsters in the wake of the incident.

She said: “We contacted the police on Friday afternoon following an incident which had taken place in the community during lunchtime.

“A pupil had allegedly supplied ‘legal highs’ to a number of pupils at lunchtime. The police have been dealing with the situation.

“We are very concerned about how easily young people are able to access these substances and will continue to do what we can in school, in association with a range of external partners, to inform pupils about the risks associated with this.”

The incident has prompted widespread concern within the community and has again highlighted the availability of so-called legal highs.

Although not controlled under Misuse of Drugs Acts, many produce similar effects to narcotics, such as cocaine or ecstasy. To circumvent this, the substances are often advertised as plant food or bath crystals.

Glenrothes’ leading police officer, Chief Inspector Derek McEwan, has warned that just because many are sold as legal, the effects of such substances can be devastating.

“Just because a drug is sold as legal does not mean it is safe,” he said.

“Anyone who takes legal highs can have no idea as to what they actually contain and the possible harm they could cause. They are putting their life in danger.

“Whilst the children involved in this incident appear to have suffered no lasting consequences, I can’t stress enough the potential risk of serious short and long term illness, overdose or even death that is associated with legal highs.

“We will be working closely within the school to support staff and pupils and to prevent this type of incident happening again.”