The deadly 'monkey dust' party drug infiltrating Australia
Experts are warning about the dangers of a cheap and potentially deadly party drug known as “monkey dust,” which has infiltrated its way back into Australia.
Use of the potent synthetic drug has been declared an epidemic in the UK, where you can buy a hit for less than the cost of a beer.
Users of the drug have been filmed running into traffic, mutilating themselves, teetering on rooftops and jumping from buildings.
Also known as MDPV or “bath salts,” the drug can be taken as a pill, or snorted or smoked as a powder.
Its violent side effects have caused dozens of fatalities in the UK.
“They’ll have frightening hallucinations,” toxicologist Andrew Leibie said of monkey dust’s side-effects.
“But a lot of people also report that when they take this drug they feel like Superman, so they feel like they can literally fly.”
The use of the drug has been linked to two deaths in South Australia in 2012, but drug authorities thought it had disappeared from Australia.
Now they say it’s back and cheaper than ever – only $10 to $15 per dose.
In December two men were busted trying to import the drug into Queensland.
Four kilograms’ worth may not sound like much, but the drug is so potent it was the equivalent of half a million street hits.
