Guernsey drug users warned PMMA is 'potentially lethal'

Drug users in Guernsey have been warned about a potentially lethal drug being incorporated into ecstasy-like tablets.

Ed Freestone, the Bailiwick's chief pharmacist, said the drug - called paramethoxymethylamphetamine, or PMMA - was a stimulant similar to ecstasy.

"Users need to understand its potentially fatal effect," he said.

The drug is not as potent as ecstasy (MDMA), which has led to some taking a fatal dose. There have been 21 deaths in Europe and the UK in the last year.

PMMA has also been found as an ingredient in what were previously known as "legal highs".

Mr Freestone said: "Drug dealers are only interested in making money and so users can never be sure what they are taking when they are supplied by illegal sources."