The Scottish Government has been urged to develop a “coherent plan” to deal with legal highs.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser told The Courier he was “deeply concerned” after figures revealed almost 100 people had been hospitalised in Tayside after taking such substances over the last four years.
Across Scotland hospital admissions involving the use of legal highs have more than doubled over the last two full years.
“The use of legal high drugs is clearly getting worse and the Scottish Government must come up with a plan to tackle them,” Mr Fraser said.
“It is a grave concern that nearly 100 people have been hospitalised in NHS Tayside as a result of taking these substances.”
The MSP said educating potential users must be a top priority.
“As a matter of urgency the Scottish Government must develop a coherent plan for dealing with legal highs and educating the public on the dangers of these drugs must be the starting point,” he continued.
“NHS Scotland already faces significant challenges with the misuse of alcohol and illegal drugs and the Scottish Government must work hard to ensure that so-called legal highs are not added to the mix.”
Substances sold as legal highs are produced to have similar effects to drugs such as ecstasy, but they fall outside the UK Government’s misuse of drugs laws.
Last week, community safety minister Roseanna Cunningham told MSPs a summit will be held to discuss ways to crack down on Scotland’s sale and supply of legal highs.
She said the products are often labelled and sold as plant food or bath salts, or marked as not fit for human consumption, as a tactic to avoid the law.
They are easily accessible online and, according to research, have also been found to be sold at petrol stations, newsagents and takeaways.
The UN and the EU recorded 73 new drugs in 2012, with 693 online shops selling legal highs across Europe in the same year.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “New psychoactive substances (NPS) can be extremely dangerous and it is impossible to know the contents and the dangers a drug may pose, whether it is legal or not.
“Recording the prevalence and use of NPS and the associated health harms is a challenge, which is being experienced internationally.
“Last week, the minister for community safety and legal affairs announced that the Scottish Government would be commissioning research…to understand more about the scale of this issue and who is using these substances and why.
“This builds on the work that we have been taking forward…to improve national data collection tools to provide more information on the use of these substances.”