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ECSTASY FOR £2
BY ROD MCPHEE Deadly drug ecstasy is being sold in Leeds for £2.
West Yorkshire Police say that in the last six months the cost has fallen dramatically while the number of ecstasy-related deaths nationwide has soared in line with increased demand. More than 16,000 people – mainly aged 18 to 30 – are now estimated to take the dance drug in Leeds and fears are growing that the current price war will lead to further tragedy.
Det Insp Bryan Dent of West Yorkshire Police drugs unit said: "As dealers' profit margins are squeezed they are more likely to mix the drug with other substances, so users are less
likely to know what they are taking.
"The average ecstasy tablet costs around 2.50 and, if bought in batches of 10, that price can drop to 2. Ten years ago it would set you back closer to 10.
"Our fear is that, as the cost is cut, the number of young, nave people taking several pills a night rises. That is exactly the kind of behaviour which can lead to tragedy. We are amazed that there have not been more deaths."
Leeds teenager Aaron Wilson was the most recent casualty of the explosion in ecstasy use.
The 19-year-old, from Middleton, died in July, last year, after he is believed to have taken several pills during a night out. His body had very high levels of the drug which led to organ failure.
The Leeds Drug Action Team, a multi-agency organisation set up to tackle substance abuse in the city, is preparing to launch a major awareness campaign.
Co-ordinator Keith Lawrence said: "Users are effectively dicing with death. Unfortunately the perception is that – unlike other class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine – you are much less likely to die as a result of taking Ecstasy. The message we need to get across is that these pills can kill."
The surge in users stems partly from a growth in the number of makeshift laboratories producing the chemical MDMA (methylene-dioxy-meth-amphetamine) which is contained in ecstasy.
Today West Yorkshire Police are uncovering an unprecedented number of Yorkshire laboratories and recovering millions of the illicit tablets during raids around the region
rod.mcphee@ypn.co.uk
Factfile: User figures double
• The number of UK users has doubled in five years to more than 730,000
• The number of annual UK Ecstasy-related deaths increased from 12 to 72 over five years
• The cost of buying an Ecstasy tablet has fallen from around 7 to 2 over the past five years
•Around 8 million people take the drug worldwide - an increase of 70 per cent over five years.
• Britain is now the biggest user of Ecstasy after Australia and Ireland
• The amount of UK users is now greater than the combined number of heroin and cocaine abusers
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
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