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Prince William speaks out against scourge of Spice drug after hearing of its devastating impact on London's homeless

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak to Mick Clarke, chief executive at homeless charity The Passage: Getty Images
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak to Mick Clarke, chief executive at homeless charity The Passage: Getty Images

Prince William has spoken out against the scourge of the drug Spice after hearing about its devastating effect on London’s homeless.

William and Kate were left moved by the problems the illegal synthetic high is causing rough sleepers across the capital.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toured a central London centre run by charity The Passage, which has seen an increase in its clients trying the drug at least once.

During the visit the duke told Mick Clarke, chief executive of The Passage: "The fact it was a legal high and that young people were allowed to take it and it leads to addiction is just terrible."

William and Kate take part in an arts and craft session during their visit to the homeless charity (REUTERS)
William and Kate take part in an arts and craft session during their visit to the homeless charity (REUTERS)

The synthetic drug is seen as a growing problem, and the biggest challenge the homeless charity faces is that it is cheap, readily available and can exacerbate existing problems like poor mental health.

The Passage carried out a survey of its homeless clients and found 50 per cent had tried the drug at least once in 2016.

When this study was repeated this year the figure had increased to 70 per cent.

Mr Clarke gave William and Kate a private briefing on Spice at the London centre on Tuesday.

He said: "There was real empathy that came from both the duke and duchess, they very much care about the issue and I think it marks the way they care about the poorest in society and they take their responsibility to raise those issues, to give it the profile that's needed, very seriously.

Spice: withdrawal symptoms are said to be worse than heroin or crack (AFP/Getty Images)
Spice: withdrawal symptoms are said to be worse than heroin or crack (AFP/Getty Images)

"I think they genuinely get it in terms of the stuff they've done around, say, Heads Together (mental health campaign) and I think they really appreciated hearing first-hand the terrible effects of Spice.

"How cheap it is to just get, how readily available it is, I think they were shocked and I think it really brought home this is a drug that targets the poorest of the poor.

"If you're on the streets it doesn't get much worse but if you're on the streets and then you're taking something that literally one puff could hospitalise you, in some cases lead to your death or make you out to be a zombie stereotype figure.

"There was a lot of talk around how we break the cycle of addiction, mental health and homelessness."

Spice, a former legal high, is a form of synthetic cannabis that was banned in May 2016.

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