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 are legal to buy.

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 even 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."

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.