THE use of so-called ‘legal highs’ is resulting in serious incidents of violence in Scottish prisons, jail staff have revealed.

Prison officers say there have been several incidents inside Scottish prisons as a result of inmates taking new psychoactive substances (NPS).

A group involving health and prison authorities and trade unions has been set up to work out how best to manage prisoners under the influence of the drugs, which can trigger uncontrolled and unpredictable behaviour.

The warning comes as prisons south of the border are having to deal with being destabilised by legal highs, with particular concern about the use of a synthetic cannabis substitute known as Spice.

A recent Channel 4 documentary, the Secret Life of Prisons, revealed how the drugs are being smuggled in hidden in trainers and even sprayed onto children’s drawings and the shocking levels of bullying and violence caused by drugs.

Phil Fairlie, Scottish chairman of the Prison Officers Association, said Scottish prisons are now also being impacted by legal highs.

He said: “There has been several incidents inside prisons, some of them fairly serious. I wouldn’t want to be specific about examples, but it becomes very difficult to control individuals and they can be a real risk to themselves and others because of the loss of control and awareness of what is going on around them and where they are.

“They have got incredible strength at times, they are not aware of what their capabilities are and it is really difficult for staff to control them. The normal control techniques we use for violent incidents in a prison aren’t particularly appropriate when we are dealing with someone in that situation. It has been a real challenge in terms of trying to adjust and come to terms with the differences.”

Fairlie said a group had been set up to develop better ways of managing incidents with prisoners who have taken legal highs, including transferring them to hospital if required.

But he added one major difficulty was the drugs were difficult to detect and it only took a tiny amount to have a significant effect on an individual.

He said: “It is a constant battle, but that has always been the case in prisons in dealing with any drug. However with these substances in particular, it doesn’t need much to get through before you have got significant issues to deal with.

“It is not something which is going to be solved overnight as the market outside moves so quickly and the chemical make-ups are changing so rapidly. It is going to be a battle for a long time to come.”

Scotland’s chief inspector of prisons David Strang also raised concerns about the impact of NPS.

He said: “The real concern is the unpredictable and often violent behaviour which is often associated with them.

“That is a real challenge for prison staff in knowing how to respond and how to predict their behaviour. Often people who have taken them can’t remember what they have done while they have been under the influence.

“So it is harmful and damaging to their health and often it leads to increased levels of debt and bullying and violence that follows.” However he said there was not as widespread a problem in Scottish prisons as in England.

Mike Trace, chief executive of The Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust (RAPt), which works to create drug-free wings prisons in England, said one reason for the increase was dealers could make more money from drugs such as Spice than cannabis or heroin.

He said: “With Spice we have heard examples where people have got five times or ten times the profit mark-up. So it is very attractive economically.”

A former prisoner who was helped by RAPt following his release described how the prison was ‘flooded’ with Spice during his last two sentences.

James, 42, said: “I saw people running around daily trying to get hold of it. It’s a very dangerous drug because we don’t know the effects and in my experience it affects people differently.

“My personal experience was that it made me panicked and paranoid and I lost control, I lost consciousness. The main reason people use drugs is it’s a way of handling the sentences, to pass the time when there is no education, no rehabilitation.”

Laws to criminalise so-called legal highs came into force in the UK in May this year, but they have always been banned in prisons.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said: "The SPS has been proactively managing NPS and its impact through awareness sessions and training to a wide range of staff and prisoners.

"A national training programme is currently being rolled out. Health Boards are responsible for the clinical management of prisoners believed to be under the influence of NPS."