Youngsters in Angus have been shocked by the scale of the problem with so-called legal highs.
A group based at Dundee and Angus College have found that problems with new psychoactive substances in the county are now as serious as addictions to illegal drugs.
The Prince’s Trust team has made a short film to highlight the dangers of NPS and this will be shown in schools.
It features an account by one woman in Montrose who became hooked on the substances shortly after a “legal highs” shop opened in the town.
She entered the shop looking for an alternative to cannabis and ended up with a serious addiction problem that left her unable to care for her children.
Catrina Massie, 18, from Forfar, said: “We are hoping this video can be seen as widely as possible by schools and other organisations and stop other people taking them.”
The woman said the drug problem led to her losing her job and spending £1,400 in four weeks on the substances.
She only sought help from her parents when she slept in until 6pm one day and found the local shop closed.
Sam Cooper, 16, from Forfar, who was also part of the team, said he had a terrible experience when he took a substance that mimics cannabis.
He said: “When I took herbal incense, I completely blacked out.
“When I woke up I was covered in phlegm right down my front and my friends were saying that I had tried to attack his parents and tried to throw myself out of a third-storey flat window.
“Legal highs are popping up everywhere and the problem needs to be tamed. I wouldn’t have taken it if I’d known the facts.”
The group, all aged between 16 and 23, have also produced a leaflet and a website about the dangers of “legal highs”.
The Prince’s Trust Team Programme attracts people from all walks of life, and encourages individual personal development in areas such as communication, leadership, motivation, confidence and tolerance.
It aims to help young people from different backgrounds and circumstances develop confidence, learn new skills and get into work.
Team leader Vicky Hirst said: “The group chose the topic together because they knew of people locally who took legal highs, who perhaps didn’t know the dangers.”