Lincoln councillors back plan for ban on 'legal highs' in city centre
Councillors at City of Lincoln Council have this week backed the introduction of a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) banning the taking of ‘legal highs’ in the city centre.
The local authority said the order – the first of its kind in the country – would take effect from 1 April.
City of Lincoln is using the PSPO to replace existing Designated Public Place Orders, which allowed the prevention of alcohol consumption under certain circumstances in certain areas.
However, the PSPO allows the local authority to tackle a wider range of issues. It contains the following prohibition: “Person(s) within this area will not ingest, inhale, inject, smoke or otherwise use intoxicating substances.”
Intoxicating substances are given the following definition (which includes alcohol and ‘legal highs’): “Substances with the capacity to stimulate or depress the central nervous system. ”
Anyone who breaches the order would be committing a criminal offence and could receive a Fixed Penalty Notice or face a fine in court. Police and council enforcement officers would have the power to demand the surrender of the intoxicating substances.
A public consultation was held on the proposal in November 2014. This claimed that 97% of respondents would support a ban on consuming intoxicating substances, including alcohol and new psychoactive substances.
PSPOs were made available through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Sam Barstow, Service Manager for Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour at the city council, said: “We will be working with Lincolnshire Police to produce an enforcement plan to support the order.
“However, this is also about support as well as enforcement. We are keen to make sure that anyone using these substances is given the help they need. We’ll be working with local agencies to refer individuals for treatment.”
Bairstow added: “We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to this move through the consultation and anecdotal evidence. It’s an issue that we know is affecting most major towns and cities in the country and we’ve received a lot of support from other councils interested in following our lead.”
Inspector Pat Coates, of Lincolnshire Police, said: “We welcome the city council’s decision to ban the use of legal highs in Lincoln city centre and we hope it will have a real effect in cutting out some of the detrimental effects the use of these substances has on our communities, as well as offering help to any individuals who may need it.
“We will be working with the council on a full enforcement plan but the PSPO gives us a stronger power to take legal highs off people and also gives us the power to issue a fine through a Fixed Penalty Notice to the person using them.”
