PARAMEDICS are "regularly" being called out to help people who have taken legal highs.

So-called legal highs are psychoactive substances that mimic the effects of controlled drugs although they have had their chemical structures changed and despite being legal to buy, they are not safe to use.

Legal highs such as Black Mamba, Pandora’s Box, Ivory Wave and Annihilation can provide temporary highs but have side effects such as seizures, comas, long term illnesses — both mental and physical — and can cause death.

According to West Midlands Ambulance Service, ambulance crews across the West Midlands are now regularly dealing with patients who have taken legal highs.

Across the force area since April, 105 calls have been from patients who told call-takers they had taken Black Mamba.

However, a spokesman for the service said this figure is "just the tip of the iceberg", as not every caller states on the phone they have taken a legal high and it's only when paramedics arrive that this is discovered.

Paramedic, Cameron McVittie, said: “My last job of the night on Sunday initially coded as a cardiac arrest, although thankfully it wasn't. But it was another case of Black Mamba, a legal high that is synthetic cannabis. It contains chemicals which mimic the effects of their illegal counterparts meaning the risks and side effects are similar.

“In some cases, side effects are unknown due to little testing being done on them. We're seeing lots of people who have smoked or even eaten Black Mamba. The fact that it states on packets that it is 'not for human consumption' doesn’t seem to matter."

Fellow paramedic, Jack Lewis, said: “We see some very ill people who insist on taking legal highs. One of the sickest patients I've been to took a legal high. They may be "legal" but they are so dangerous.

“We see cases where patients have got an increased heart rate, are feeling on edge or restless, sometimes they are feeling tired or drowsy, or they are feeling sick, having hallucinations and panic attacks as well as convulsions. There is also now evidence that their use may increase the risk of later developing psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia.”

According to drug advice website, FRANK, legal highs cannot be sold for human consumption so they are often sold as incense, salts or plant food to get round the law. The packaging may describe a list of ingredients but you cannot be sure that this is what the product will contain.

Many legal highs can be bought in shops selling tobacco and smoking paraphernalia, although largely they are bought online.

Many cannabinoids, such as Black Mamba, are now illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but as manufacturers regularly change ingredients it is hard for the law to stay on top of the new legal highs being produced.

Your Worcester News reported last year on the death of Jordan Guise, a promising chef from Kidderminster who died after inhaling nitrous oxide, more commonly known as 'laughing gas'.