Contaminated drugs warning issued by health chiefs

The warning was made ahead of summer festivals, concerts and parties

A county's public health leaders have issued a warning about contaminated drugs circulating at festivals and parties over the summer.

Both North and West Northamptonshire councils said some drugs bought off the street or online could be as much as 10 times stronger and could cause serious harm or death.

One 18-year-old told the BBC he saw a friend hospitalised after taking contaminated drugs.

Jane Bethea, director of public health at North Northamptonshire Council, said: "The risks to inexperienced or recreational drug users are increased by the rapidly changing drug market."

The councils warned that by buying illegal drugs, users "can't be sure what is in them or the effect they will have".

Public health officials say young festivalgoers can be vulnerable to experimenting with drugs for the first time

Ms Bethea said: "Festivals are a particular setting of concern given there can be a number of street drugs circulating at these events, and those that take them may be inexperienced or experimenting for the first time, and so have low tolerance."

She said there were particular issues with potent synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, being mis-sold, and high availability of contaminated ketamine.

Chloe Gay, director of public health at West Northamptonshire Council, said: "Your drugs may look the same, even if they are contaminated, so I urge all recreational drug users to stop and think, and if they go ahead then to abide by the advice."

The councils are working with charities such as Change Grow Live and Ngage on the warning.

Emma White, from Ngage, said: "We have young people who are ending up in A&E because of contaminated substances.

"It is really shocking actually how many of our young people it is affecting."

'He started seizing on the floor'

Deano said he saw his friend end up in hospital due to contaminated drugs

Deano is a former drug user who now works with Ngage.

The 18-year-old from Northamptonshire, who did not want to give his surname, said he started taking drugs to help him sleep.

He told BBC Radio Northampton's Annabel Amos: "I am a massive insomniac, always have been.

"Also, I've got ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder], so they bounce off each other.

"So that's what I initially started using substances for."

He said when buying drugs "there's always going to be a risk" they could be contaminated.

Deano said when he was 16, he was with a friend, who was about his age and took what he thought was ketamine, but the substance also contained amphetamine and fentanyl - a powerful opioid.

He said: "He was bugging around for a bit, getting all excited because of the amphetamines and then what I assume happened is the fentanyl took over after that.

"He started seizing on the floor, foaming [at the mouth] and he got taken away by ambulance.

"It's still a shock because you don't know what they've taken."

His friend later recovered and now Deano is working towards rebuilding his life and has applied to college.