A leading drugs and alcohol abuse charity has warned of the deadly impact of a new party drug sweeping through nightclubs in the north during the Christmas party season.
Pink cocaine is being sold to festive partygoers across Belfast and other areas of the north having only started to appear here in recent months.
Those selling the popular drug in nightclubs are marketing it as a new version of cocaine - even though the potentially deadly cocktail may not even contain any cocaine at all.
The warning from ASCERT chief executive Gary McMichael comes after the death of west Belfast woman Chloe Ferris is believed to be linked to the new drug, while it has also been reported to have been taken by One Direction star Liam Payne before his death in Argentina earlier this year.
Mr McMichael says the potent new drug has been brought in as a “designer product”, but one which could have deadly results.
“The first thing is, pink cocaine generally isn’t cocaine. There’s usually not even any cocaine in it,” he says.
“When you talk about these types of drugs, you can’t say anything with absolute certainty because every time you take a substance like this, it’s very likely something different to the last time you might have taken it.
“Pink cocaine is a party drug, it has been associated with the nightclub scene. It is not cocaine, and the one thing we can say is that it is generally a mix of a lot of other drugs.
“From what we understand it tends to have at least one stimulant drug and at least one depressant drug. It has multiple drugs together in order to deliver different effects.
“Often what it appears to contain is drugs like ecstasy, ketamine, amphetamines. In some cases hallucinogenic drugs as well.
“It’s coloured with food dye to appear to be pink. It’s very much a designer product for the drug-using population.”
“It’s sold as cocaine when it simply isn’t that. There is no awareness of how strong or potent it is and what combination of drugs are included.
“So there is a very real risk of an adverse reaction to that, including overdose and that can in some cases lead to death.”
Mr McMichael added those who are not regular drug users may be more prone to the adverse effects of pink cocaine, and urged anyone celebrating over the Christmas period to think about what they are taking.
“In terms of people who are not habitual drug users, experimenting with drugs like this is going to be particularly dangerous.
“Their body doesn’t know what to expect and doesn’t have any tolerance to these substances.
“Even for those who are habitual drug users, you are talking about something which has multiple drugs which , when combined, can have unpredictable results.
“Anybody who is offered this drug needs to be aware and very wary of taking it, because combining different substances together is much more dangerous than just a single substance.
In a pre-Christmas message, public health officials have urged anyone taking illegal drugs to have a test dose before consuming and to use with someone who can call an ambulance quickly.
Stephanie Hanlon, the Public Health Agency’s lead on drugs and alcohol, said the agency knows people choose to use alcohol and other drugs as part of their celebrations over Christmas.
“Mixing any drugs increases the risk of serious harm and can have a negative impact on you and those around you,” Ms O’Hanlon said.
“Combining different types of drugs is unpredictable, can increase the toxicity of already potentially harmful substances, and increases the risk of serious harm occurring.”
