Synthetic drugs: Coroners Court hears details of five deaths involving fake ecstasy
A friend cried as his mate acted “crazy and insane” like a drug user in “some Facebook video” before his death from synthetic drugs, a court has heard.
Police & Courts
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A teen “tripping” on fake ecstasy was acting like a crazed drug user “from some Facebook video” before suffering catastrophic brain injury and organ failure.
The 17-year-old, identified as Anson, began hitting his head against a wall and bedhead after snorting what he thought was MDMA.
A detective told the Coroners Court he’d never seen such a synthetic drug, saying he’d normally expect such bizarre behaviour from ice.
A friend, among several who had been at a house playing cards with Anson, said the teen began acting strangely on inhaling the powder, which gave a high “like a dream”.
He made loud clicking sounds and repeatedly said “No, no no” before suffering multiple seizures.
“He was sweating heaps,’’ the friend said in a statement read to the court.
“He looked lost and like he wanted to escape. I was so worried for him that I broke down and started crying. It all reminded me of some Facebook video of somebody on drugs who acts crazy and is insane.”
Anson began vomiting pinkish-red liquid “like creamy soda” before swinging his arm into a window.
“He was lunging and swinging his body around recklessly,’’ the friend said.
“I could tell that he didn’t know what he was doing.
“He just acted differently all of a sudden.”
Another friend said: “He was really tripping and starting to get scared”.
Anson’s death is among five Coroner Paresa Spanos is probing involving young males who between 2016-17 took synthetic drugs, namely fake ecstasy.
Two of the psychoactive chemicals detected — a meth-like stimulant and highly potent hallucinogen — can cause fatal brain, heart and respiratory damage.
A young sportsman, 22, suffered a similar episode on consuming MDMA and later died in hospital.
A friend in a statement read to the court said the youth had been pacing up and down the hall at another friend’s house before charging the front door.
He later stopped breathing and friends performed CPR after looking it up on Google before paramedics arrived.
“He just seemed crazy — he was behaving erratically,’’ the friend said.
“He kept looking behind like someone was chasing him and he was scared.
“I’d never seen someone act like this before.”
Another man, 23, “rolled” over an apartment balcony after taking MDMA at a house party.
He told partygoers he’d “never felt a trip like this before”, asking before his death: “Is this trip going to be over soon?”.
The synthetic drugs involved in the deaths hadn’t resurfaced in Melbourne but similar psychoactive substances available were equally harmful, the court heard.
It’s hoped the coroner’s recommendations will prevent future deaths.
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