Liam Coffey died after taking fatal levels of designer drugs MDMA and PMMA
GARDAI fear an explosion of new drugs coming on the scene over the coming months, as they issue warnings about a drug which has claimed at least 10 lives in Ireland.
Authorities were forced to issue a public health warning following a number of deaths after young people took what they thought was ecstasy – but actually contained the much more dangerous substance PMMA.
Gardai have confirmed there is a definite link between five deaths and tablets known as Green Apples or Green Rolex.
They suspect that five other deaths are also linked to the drug.
The news comes a week after gardai and health authorities were forced to issue a warning over a completely different drug, which has the street name N-Bomb which hospitalised a number of students in Dublin.
That drug, which was a former legal high, tries to replicate the effect of LSD and amphetamines. It has been blamed for dozens of deaths around the world.
But gardai warn it is only the tip of the iceberg. A source said: “There were 58 new psychoactive substances appearing in 2012. We had 73 last year, so you can see where the trend is going.
“The serious problem with the new substances is people don’t know what kind of effect it will have on them. These are not tried-and-tested substances, and can lead to all sorts of adverse reactions.”
Typically, ecstasy tablets contain MDMA, but larger numbers are containing PMMA instead, which has a much higher level of toxicity. PMMA also takes longer to have an effect, which has led to people consuming higher amounts which significantly increase the toxicity. Gardai stressed that they are not merely scaremongering and people who take drugs need to be aware of the dangers of PMMA.
The deaths include that of Shane Cotton (16), from New Ross in Co. Wexford. The youngster died in Waterford Regional Hospital on Sunday. Pals said he may have taken six tablets.
Last year, an inquest into the deaths of pals Liam Coffey and Michael Coleman (pictured above) at their rented house in Kinsale, Co. Cork, heard that they had taken fatal levels of MDMA and PMMA.
