MDMA in the UK is the "strongest available in two decades"

There are concerns about large-scale parties being thrown by students in UK cities such as Newcastle, Manchester and Bristol.

It is claimed Newcastle City Council has come across 136 in the past eight months, with many of the people attending said to be suffering severe comedowns due to taking MDMA that's "the strongest available in two decades."

Claire Dean, a spokeswoman for drug counselling service Lifeline, said: "For the first time we are having people coming to us with problems relating to MDMA; we have never seen that before.

“It is a danger to promising student careers. These drugs in the strength we are now seeing have a four-day comedown period; these kids are walking around like glass, unable to function.”

A multi-agency taskforce has been set up in north-east England to crack down on the parties, regularly attracting hundreds to student houses. These properties are deemed unsafe to hold so many people, with a risk of creating a "perfect storm" of casualties.

[Via: The Times]

[Photo: MDMA Team]

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter