Powerful new strain reduces users to a helpless zombie-like state in the street
drag of what she thought was cannabis but which turned out to be Spice.
When an ambulance arrived, the paramedic told her they had been called to 26 similar incidents that day alone.
Julie works in Manchester. But charities report that the drug is having similar effects in other parts of the UK.
Julie said: “In the city centre there are people who just look like they are frozen, sat in a catatonic state not moving.
“You wouldn’t even know they were alive – it’s like when you press pause on the telly.
“People are falling without even putting out their hands.”
It is estimated 95 per cent of young homeless people in Manchester use Spice, which is now being sold on the streets instead of shops.
Julie added: “Every corner where there are beggars or homeless people hanging about, out of every six or so at least two will be catatonic.
One user said: “I have used it for about two years. It’s cheap in bundles and they are going for daft prices. Heroin users are saying it’s the worst stuff going. It’s dangerous.”
Lewis Morris, 37, who has been living on the streets since December, added: “It’s lethal. I was walking down a main street and 17 people went down on it. They hit the deck shaking out of control and I had to phone an ambulance.
“The new stuff is mixed with the tranquilliser they use when transporting koi carp to calm them down.
“Somebody could offer me £1000 of it now but I would just burn it. That’s how against it I am. It’s really cheap.
“People are getting it for £5 a gram and it will last you all day. It’s taken over from heroin and crack.”
Charities say the homeless are being used as a “cynical testing ground” for new blends of drugs.
Julie added: “We’ve had people gang raped, we have had people put on the game, we have had people trafficked because of it.
“I’ve had people wake up in an MRI scanner who didn’t know how they’d got there. I’ve recently had a lad sectioned.”
You would not even know they are alive JULIE BOYLE