Three die from new designer drugs

NEW drugs many times the strength of Ecstasy, and believed to be responsible for three deaths this year, are being sold in Britain.

Police yesterday issued warnings against the drugs sold as DOB or Golden Eagle, which are up to 33 times the strength of Ecstasy and Flatliners.

The drugs are part of a list of 36 derivatives of Ecstasy that are currently legal to possess, although the Home Office is considering outlawing them.

The National Criminal Intelligence Service said a growing number of dealers were manufacturing and selling the new-style designer drugs.

A spokesman said: "Criminals are diversifying out of the production and dealing of pure Ecstasy into a number of similar, and often stronger, drugs of which the physical side- effects could be lethal."

NCIS drugs intelligence officers are particularly concerned about DOB - chemical name 4-bromo2, 5 dimethoxy-amphetamine - and Flatliners - 4MTA.

The consumption of Flatliners, which look like cream- coloured headache tablets, has been linked to three deaths this year in Plymouth, Derby and Shepton Mallet, and two in the Netherlands.

In the Plymouth case, which involved a 24-year-old soldier, experts believe that the combination of cocaine and 4MTA could have proved fatal.

It is suggested that the drug is called Flatliners because it gives an out of body experience, although very little is known about it. It is thought to have been developed by scientists at an American university as a possible anti-depressant.

The authorities in France recently seized a massive amount of DOB, which police believe could have been intended for the UK market. DOB is mixed with other substances to dilute the drug's chemical effect.

Recipes for making the synthetic drugs can be found on the Internet.

As some drug users become more accustomed to Ecstasy, they are looking for a bigger or different "buzz" that new drugs can provide.

Experts said they were still not sure why the drugs were so potentially dangerous, but one of the problems was that they were produced in "kitchen" laboratories which could be dirty and unsafe.

At the moment the supply of Flatliners is covered only by the Medicines Act which is rarely enforced and only has a maximum penalty of two years in jail. DOB is not covered by the Act.

The Home Office is considered placing all 36 derivatives under the control of the Misuse of Drugs legislation and making them Class A drugs. This classification has a maximum jail term of seven years and an unlimited fine for possession, 14 years and a fine for unlawful production, and life in prison for supplying.

Les Fiander, of the NCIS drugs unit, warned yesterday that some people could take the new drugs by mistake.

"Dealers and manufacturers are pushing any substance - counterfeit or real - that they are able to sell in a buyers' market," he said.

He added: "Users, believing they are taking Ecstasy, could easily discover that these tablets contain nothing more powerful than milk products. On the other hand, they could contain a lethal strength of Ecstasy. All of these tablets look the same."