Two men are seen standing in a phone box smoking a rolled up cigarette, believed to contain the synthetic substance, in Manchester city centre today.
One of the men then walks out of the booth while the other, dressed in a navy hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, is left slumped up against the inside.
He slides down until he’s almost in a squat before coming to and stumbling out of the phone box in a zombie-like state – his trousers gradually falling down past his waist.
In the next shot the man is seen collapsed on his knees while clinging onto a bench as a member of the public appears to approach him and check he’s ok.
He slowly tries to pull himself up on the bench and gain composure but is seemingly in a heavy stupor as his body slumps over again.
Paramedics were called to deal with the suspected addict as pictures emerged of two ambulance workers attempting to treat him on the bench in Piccadilly Gardens.
It comes as Greater Manchester Police revealed they have been called to 58 Spice related calls in less than three days over the weekend, according to the Manchester Evening News.
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”.
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.
The country has been blighted by a Spice epidemic but a former addict has today spoken about how he has managed to turn his life around.
Matthew Nuttall began smoking the drug as a teenager and had been sleeping rough on the streets of Manchester but decided to stop taking it three months ago and went completely cold turkey.
[Source:-thesun]
