Producers and suppliers of so-called "legal highs" will face up to seven years in prison under a new crackdown outlined in the Queen's Speech, which also introduces a blanket ban on producing and selling new substances.

This is to be greatly welcomed, as Bradford in particular has seen the local authority and the police grapple with the particular difficulties this new substance menace poses.

Up to now, although it is possible to outlaw individual types of legal highs – known officially as new psychoactive substances (NPS) – as was done with mephedrone, there is no blanket ban on them. Because of that, each time an individual one is outlawed, another similar drug is manufactured to take its place.

Of course, if people didn’t use them in the first place, there would be no market for them, and the best advice is not to take anything like this at all.

Sadly, youth, peer pressure, and a multitude of other factors lead people to seek some sort of pleasure or escape through all manner of circumstances, so they will continue to be bought, no matter what the warnings.

So it is clear that the only way to tackle this issue is to find a way to ban the generic group of these drugs, not just specific examples that are proven to be dangerous. They will no doubt still be available through the black market, but at least regulation means that anyone who buys them knows they are not only breaking the law, but, more importantly, putting themselves in danger.