NEW students are being warned about the risks of 'legal high' drugs.

Police Scotland has launched a campaign aimed at keeping college and university students safe in Scotland's largest city.

Freshers will be given advice on how to protect themselves on nights out in the City Centre and keep ­belongings safe including laptops and mobile phones.

Online safety, cyber bullying and the risks of sending nude "selfies" by text and e-mail will also be highlighed.

Police said students were now also facing a new threat to their safety, from so called 'legal high' drugs that are available to buy on the high street.

The four-week student safety campaign was launched by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Inspector Scott Tees said: "If somebody gave you a container and asked you to drink the contents, would you drink it, without knowing what it was?

"Nobody knows what is in these substances. Our advice would be, if you don't know what it is, don't take it and that message doesn't just apply to students.

"We also want to warn students about the risks of "selfies". Once it's out there, it's out there."

An investigation by the Evening Times revealed how potentially lethal drugs are being openly sold in shops across Glasgow.

In less than an hour, we were able to buy a potentially fatal cocktail of so-called legal highs, any one of which could prove fatal.

Shopkeepers offered advice to our reporter about how the drugs should be taken.

New figures show the number of deaths linked to New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) rose from 47 in 2012 to 113 last year.

Police Scotland will try to get the keep safe message across to ­students with a poster campaign in club ­toilets, student venues and shops.

More than 465,000 students will start their studies in Scotland this month.