So-called legal highs including man-made chemicals sprayed on herbal smoking products and the chemical solvent GBL will be banned by the end of the year.
The government announced on Tuesday that a range of drugs would be outlawed once the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 could be modified to ban them.
Home secretary Alan Johnson's decision comes after the government's drug advisory group recommended a ban on the substances last week. A campaign is also due to be launched at university campuses next week to warn of the dangers of mixing them with alcohol.
Home secretary Alan Johnson said: 'There is a perception that many of the so called 'legal highs' are harmless, however in some cases people can be ingesting dangerous industrial fluids or smoking chemicals that can be even more harmful than cannabis.
'Legal highs are an emerging threat, particularly to young people, and we have a duty to educate them about the dangers. That's why we are also launching a campaign in September to highlight the risks.'
The chemical solvent GBL (gamma-butyrolactone), which is converted, with a like chemical, into the class C drug GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) in the body will be controlled as class C drugs and banned when intended for human consumption.
Synthetic cannabinoids - man-made chemicals sprayed on herbal smoking products such as 'Spice' which act on the body in a similar way to cannabis - will be controlled as a class B drug alongside cannabis.
BZP (Benzylpiperazine) and related piperazines, which are stimulants taken as an alternative to amphetamines, will be controlled as class C drugs.
The new classifications will come with a new information campaign aimed at young people starting university.
Professor David Nutt, chair of the ACMD said that the soon-to-be-banned substances were 'dangerous drugs, especially when mixed with alcohol'.
But Steve Rolles of drug reform group Transform told politics.co.uk the government was responding with a 'myopic, short-term, knee-jerk reaction'.
'These things are undoubtedly harmful, but it would be better to regulate them,' he said.
The government announced on Tuesday that a range of drugs would be outlawed once the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 could be modified to ban them.
Home secretary Alan Johnson's decision comes after the government's drug advisory group recommended a ban on the substances last week. A campaign is also due to be launched at university campuses next week to warn of the dangers of mixing them with alcohol.
Home secretary Alan Johnson said: 'There is a perception that many of the so called 'legal highs' are harmless, however in some cases people can be ingesting dangerous industrial fluids or smoking chemicals that can be even more harmful than cannabis.
'Legal highs are an emerging threat, particularly to young people, and we have a duty to educate them about the dangers. That's why we are also launching a campaign in September to highlight the risks.'
The chemical solvent GBL (gamma-butyrolactone), which is converted, with a like chemical, into the class C drug GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) in the body will be controlled as class C drugs and banned when intended for human consumption.
Synthetic cannabinoids - man-made chemicals sprayed on herbal smoking products such as 'Spice' which act on the body in a similar way to cannabis - will be controlled as a class B drug alongside cannabis.
BZP (Benzylpiperazine) and related piperazines, which are stimulants taken as an alternative to amphetamines, will be controlled as class C drugs.
The new classifications will come with a new information campaign aimed at young people starting university.
Professor David Nutt, chair of the ACMD said that the soon-to-be-banned substances were 'dangerous drugs, especially when mixed with alcohol'.
But Steve Rolles of drug reform group Transform told politics.co.uk the government was responding with a 'myopic, short-term, knee-jerk reaction'.
'These things are undoubtedly harmful, but it would be better to regulate them,' he said.
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