New tests to identify 'legal highs' have been devised by scientists.

Conducted by researchers in Queen's School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, in conjunction with Forensic Science Northern Ireland, the project was funded by the Department of Justice's Asset Recovery Community Scheme which uses assets seized from criminals.

The new approach will now enable statutory agencies to identify the actual substances contained within the legal highs more quickly, thereby enabling more prompt public health messages to be issued out to communities.

In addition, as well as allowing agencies to build a comprehensive and ‘live’ picture of which drugs are currently in circulation, it is envisaged that the new rapid identification approach will also help speed up related criminal prosecutions.

'Legal highs' are substances used like illegal drugs, and have been responsible for a growing number of deaths in the UK over the last decade.

Devised by Professor Steven Bell and PhD researcher Louise Jones, the new approach combines rapid screening for known drugs with in-depth analysis of new compounds. The screening works by detecting the characteristic vibrations of the bonds within the samples by focusing a laser on the sample and measuring the energy of light scattering from it.

Professor Steven Bell, said: "The production of these drugs is constantly evolving and unfortunately there have been many instances of highly dangerous variants appearing, causing multiple fatalities before the threat they posed was recognised.

"In 2014 alone 101 new psychoactive substances were identified. As a result of the new approach devised at Queen's, we predict that we will be able to identify many more substances and at a much more rapid pace as our work in this area progresses. This will not only aid in the creation of new legislation but will also enable more meaningful information to be available to the Community, Police and Public Health agencies, with the aim of saving lives and preventing serious injury."

Stan Brown, Chief Executive of Forensic Science Northern Ireland, added: "This rapid screening will speed up the routine front-end processes of drugs analysis in Forensic Science Northern Ireland. It makes for earlier detection of previously unknown substances which in turn speeds up the processes of declaring such substances psychoactive and therefore illegal under the new NPS legislation."

Justice Minister David Ford said: "It is welcome that new legislation which comes into force in April will outlaw these substances, but we cannot be complacent. Experience tells us that making a substance illegal will sadly not be enough of a deterrent to many people. Therefore, continuing work to identify these dangerous substances and understand more about them is vital.

"Whilst there is still work to do, this research will help Forensic Science Northern Ireland to determine what is in these NPS's more quickly, enabling them to identify substances, including those previously unseen, and get public health messages out to the community. It is also very satisfying that this work is funded by the Asset Recovery Community Scheme which uses the assets seized from criminals to support projects aimed at preventing crime."

(CD)