A TOP police chief claims the Spice epidemic blighting Britain can’t be allowed to get any worse as the rise of ‘zombies’ users is putting too much pressure on public services.
Manchester Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry spoke out as more shocking photos from his city show how the drug is wreaking havoc on the country’s streets.
The drug, dubbed “fake weed”, has seen a raft of people suffering severe psychotic episodes, terrifying hallucinations, vomiting and even seizures in public.
Astonishingly the withdrawal effects of the marijuana substitute are allegedly worse than coming off crack cocaine or heroin prompting council chiefs to call for an urgent clampdown on the drug.
It is rolled up in cigarettes and smoked by users and can cause users to become sick, violent and disorientated because it is far stronger than naturally grown alternatives.
Now Chief Supt Chaudhry has called on the public to stop handing money to homeless people to prevent them from spending it on the former legal-high, which has already caused the deaths of hundreds of users.
He was speaking following a weekend of serious incidents involving the class B drug where officers and NHS staff were assaulted after users became violent and disorientated.
It prompted Nigel Murphy, the city’s councillor responsible for crime, to call on the Government to hand over more resources so that police and the heath service can cope with the growing problem.
Mr Chaudhry said officers are doing all they could to tackle the issue but it is “a problem that we cannot afford to get any worse”.
He said: “Those who take Spice are often left incapacitated or seriously ill and need the help of our partners in the NHS and ambulance service.
“A multi-agency approach is the only way we can fight this battle.”
Just this weekend, sickening images captured in Manchester show homeless users propped up against walls and lampposts, sprawled across the ground and screaming in agony.
The surveyed the scale of the problem around Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre.
Reporter Jennifer Williams wrote: “Evening rush hour is the point that the true awfulness starts to unfold. At around 4pm I nip back to the office and when I return at 5.30pm, the atmosphere has worsened.
“Between the now-closed food market stalls I see a small old man swaying about like a zombie accompanied by a woman wrapped in a duvet.
“Suddenly everywhere I look, there are pale, wasted people. It’s dystopian, like a horror movie.”
In central London, there are reports of pushers starting to offer special cut-price deals to homeless legal high addicts.
These, it is feared, are likely to increase the kind of legal high usage that charity workers say has caused drug-related deaths amongst the capital’s street sleepers.
There has been a significant rise in the number of people becoming addicted to the potentially deadly drug over the past two years, officials warn.
The drug causes severe psychotic episodes, distressing hallucinations, nausea and seizures, while the withdrawal effects are said to be more severe than heroin or crack.
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Speaking about the city’s Spice problem, Greater Manchester’s police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd said: “The police have had some people who have gone through very, very near death experiences, where they’ve essentially been dead and have been brought around.
“Spice is phenomenally cheap and it’s constantly changing. The Spice we see today isn’t the Spice we’ll see tomorrow.
“The reality is that if we could fill the streets of Manchester with police officers, we would have a chance at cracking this issue. Things are more difficult now because we’ve lost a quarter of our officers because of cuts.”
The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokesperson said: “The Trust has seen an increase in the number of 999 calls received following the use of psychoactive substances.
“We have noticed a particular increase in calls to patients who are under the influence of these substances in Greater Manchester although we are unable to give specific figures.
“Unfortunately a wide range of people are falling victim to these substances and the detrimental effects they can have.
“They can cause very unpredictable symptoms including violent behaviour, which makes it difficult for ambulance crews to manage the patient’s condition. We are working with police and other agencies to address the problem.
“We would urge anyone to consider the health risks and wider consequences of taking illicit drugs and illegal highs.”