Spice Boys

Legal highs are set to be outlawed by the British government. The bans – announced in May – come as a response to the growing number of news reports about students overdosing on synthetic drugs after using them recreationally. That could mean no more readily available laughing gas, poppers or cannabis substitutes, such as the synthetic cannabinoid Spice.

In Spice Boys, VICE reporter Ben Ferguson travels to Manchester to meet some users who have become addicted to over-the-counter substances. After hearing about how drugs like Spice have ripped their lives apart, it becomes clear that solving the problem won’t be as simple as making these legal highs illegal.

More from VICE on legal highs:

The Death Stats That the Government’s Using to Ban Legal Highs

In Defence of Poppers: The Banned ‘Gay Drug’ That Everyone Loves to Ridicule

A Look Inside the British Government’s Legal Highs Lab