Football fan Jimmy Guichard suffered a heart attack and died within hours of taking the synthetic cannabis Spice.

The drug, believed to be about 100 times more powerful than cannabis, has been readily available in shops for several years. Jimmy purchased his in Chatham High Street.

But today, Spice and other so-called legal highs became illegal. The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, which came into force at midnight, bans the production, distribution, sale and supply of the drugs.

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The new legislation follows a tireless campaign by Jimmy’s mum, Karen Vandersypen, for a change in the law.

This week she welcomed the ban and said she hoped it would save the lives of other young people like Jimmy, 20, who was found unconscious at his Gravesend home and taken to hospital but never recovered.

She said: “It is what we have been working towards for the last two-and-a-half years.

“It makes all our hard work worthwhile. Nothing will bring my son back but this ban means Jimmy’s death wasn’t completely worthless.”

Experts have warned sales of the drugs will move underground but Karen feels the ban will have a major effect because it will stop young people being able to get hold of them so easily.

She said: “Jimmy would not have ordered it online. It was an opportunistic purchase. Lads and girls like him have bought it because it was there in a shop. They are protected now.

“Although the internet is in almost every home, I don’t think a lot of teenagers would buy the drugs online. They would be worried about it being found by mum or dad and they would have to use a credit or debit card. Those sorts of things will put them off.”

Mrs Vandersypen added: “Going forward from the ban, education is paramount, that is something that we are going to be working on in the coming months.

“I didn’t know about legal highs when Jimmy died so I couldn’t warn him about them and I’m sure there are plenty of other parents who don’t. We need to get children when they are young and make them aware of the dangers.”

The use of legal highs, particularly Spice has become a problem at HMP Rochester. Last month we reported how staff were sent home after falling ill and one needed hospital treatment after being affected by smoke.

The use of the drug, which has been linked to 19 jail deaths, is said to be rife at Rochester with packages thrown over the prison wall at pre-arranged times.

Spice is popular because it is cheap, highly potent and often does not show up in urine tests. Inspectors found inmates under the influence of drugs but going unchallenged by staff.

Supt Simon Thompson said: "This new legislation is a huge step forward in tackling the harm caused in communities by these drugs. It will be a criminal offence for anyone to sell or supply these dangerous substances.

"Importantly, we will now be able to legally seize and destroy substances and have powers to stop and search individuals and premises, when appropriate.

"We are confident it will effectively end the trade of new psychoactive substances in our high streets.

"Remember that buying them on the internet will also be illegal and purchases from foreign websites will be classed as importing drugs, which can lead to substantial punishments."