'Bad batch' of ecstasy hits Adelaide

Police are vowing to put more officers on the city beat after an especially bad batch of ecstasy tablets hit Adelaide streets at the weekend.

A dozen users wound up in hospital, including one who is fighting for life.

Police are investigating if more than 30 tablets seized during the arrest of a 21-year-old man yesterday morning are from the bad batch being sold in Hindley St on Saturday night.

“This resulted in an increase of reported fights in the city and had the illicit drug users displaying psychotic, extreme and bizarre behaviour,” Superintendent Anthony Fioravanti said.

Twelve people were rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The father of one has described the horror off seeing his son in the emergency department.

“He was strapped into the bed with his feet and hands, yelling uncontrollably, frothing at the mouth and didn’t recognise anyone,” the man told 5AA radio this morning.

He said his son bought the ecstasy at Red Square nightclub.

“He wouldn’t have purchased it from the staff, he wouldn’t have purchased it from management,” Red Square owner Tony Tropeano said.

What makes the pills so dangerous is there extreme hallucinogenic effect they can have, causing users to act unpredictably.

One man was pulled naked from the River Torrens on Saturday night after stripping off and jumping in.

Another was seen licking a nightclub floor, while one user acted like a chicken in a taxi.

Drug expert Professor Jason White said: “With all the new synthetic drugs, we’re getting a lot more variability in what people find in ecstasy tablets.”