Fife Council is pushing for action to ban sales of so-called legal highs amid fears youngsters are dicing with death.
Chemical compounds which produce effects similar to illegal drugs including LSD, ecstasy and cocaine are readily available online and even in some shops and markets.
Exploiting a loophole in the law, they are often sold as plant food or bath salts.
Last year Police Scotland issued a warning about the dangers when it emerged six pupils at a Glenrothes high school had received medical checks after taking legal highs during their lunch break.
While a national group is to be established to look at ways of tackling sales and supplies of new psychoactive substances (NPS), in Fife the council has agreed to press the UK and Scottish governments. The call for action is led by the council’s representative on Fife Drug and Alcohol Partnership, Ian Sloan.
“They are not plant food, they are not bath salts but they are potentially dangerous drugs,” he warned.
“It’s mind-boggling to a lay person like myself that someone could walk into a shop or market here in Fife and buy these substances with no quality check, no advice on the risk or support given.
“At very best, potential users may be sold a dud. At the worst, consumption may prove fatal.
“Though thankfully still relatively rare, the deaths and critical incidents we are starting to see from NPS are a worrying trend.”