Spice as deadly
New ultra-strong drug left student with br ain damage
A STUDENT whose brain was damaged after he took a deadly new drug has spoken of his ordeal.
Jordan Hawthorne, 21, had a seizure and spent five days in a coma after smoking strong Vertex, a cannabis-like substance.
The former legal high, like the drug Spice, is sold for only £10 a gram and is believed to have caused several deaths in Europe.
Jordan, 21, of Plymouth, said: “I have never been so close to death. It was so severe that I don’t remember it.
“I recall buying the packet, walking home and then waking up in hospital.
“My girlfriend told me I was essentially a zombie. As soon as I started smoking it I couldn’t speak. I was dribbling. My girlfriend had to feed me, dress me, put me to bed.” Now Jordan has memory problems and must take anti-epilepsy medicine for the rest of his life.
Dealers have snapped up Vertex, which was lawful until last year’s legal highs ban, to peddle to vulnerable teenagers.
One user, Jodie, 17, said for £10 she can buy a gram of the drug – also known as Space Cadet – from a dealer in Liverpool. She said: “This is lethal stuff. Dealers are now selling them like they sell white (cocaine) or brown (heroin).
“It makes your muscles go tense and your heartbeat race. I know people who’ve puked up blood. I shouldn’t have it, I know it’s bad but once you’re hooked it’s hard to get off.”
Other users, including a girl of 14, have been rushed to hospital in the North West.
Cheshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Mark Roberts said: “We’re keen to warn as many people as possible about Vertex. This is a ticking time bomb.”
Last week the Sunday People ran pictures of Spice takers slumped, zombie-like, in the street and investigated sales of the drug in Bristol, Manchester and Blackpool.
Spice sold on the dark web for £2.50 a gram is being sent to UK addresses then passed to street distributors who target areas where homeless people gather.