Legal high risks promoted at football tournament

The event, which was held at St Gregory the Great Catholic School, Oxford, last night (Wednesday 29 October) was put on by Oxfordshire County Council and supported by Oxford United.

As well as a quality football competition, the 60 competitors were treated to the opportunity to win spot prizes with further sporting challenges and given plenty of information about what legal highs are and why it is risky to take them.

It rounded off a day in which legal highs were also at the top of the agenda for the professionals in the county’s Alcohol and Drugs Partnership. A summit, organised by the county council’s public health team, attracted attendees from county council departments such as Trading Standards, as well as partner agencies including Thames Valley Police and Oxford University Hospital Trust.

The group discussed issues such as supply, prevalence, best practice and training and will meet again in January to agree a final action plan.

Partnership working

Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health, Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles, said: “It was an excellent, positive meeting with a real sense of commitment from those around the table to working together and tackling this important issue.

“We all have a responsibility to try and increase knowledge and understanding about what legal highs are and why they pose a real danger to users, as well as tackling their sale in Oxfordshire. By working together, we stand a better chance of succeeding in our aim of understanding the size of the issue here and finding a joined-up way of addressing it.”