CORONER WARNS DRUGS ARE AS 'CHEAP AS CHIPS' AFTER IMMIGRATION OFFICER DIES SNORTING UKP5 AMPHETAMINE

A coroner has warned that potentially fatal drugs are now 'as cheap as
chips' after hearing how a young professional collapsed and died at
the end of a night out.

Immigration worker Jonathon McGrath, 32, was snorting amphetamines
with friends at their city centre flat when he suffered heart failure.

After hearing how the group - one of whom worked as a solicitor - had
used it to round off their night out, coroner Nigel Meadows warned
that the falling price of 'recreational' drugs would inevitably lead
to more deaths.

'I know how cheap drugs are,' he said. 'You can get a bag of speed for
UKP10 to UKP15.

'It's as cheap as chips. You can buy Ecstasy tablets for a few
quid.'

The judge also said that drugs were no more expensive than a round of
drinks

'If you can get drugs for the price of a round of drinks people,
particularly younger people, will want to try them while ignorant of
the dangers.'

Mr McGrath had been on a night out in Manchester with close friend
Paul Davison a solicitor, and another couple, NHS worker Terry Davis,
39, and his 31-year-old partner Joanne.

After leaving a nightclub in the early hours of October 20 last year,
they went back to the Davis's flat.

They used a rolled-up UKP5 note to snort amphetamines, or speed, which
Mr McGrath had bought earlier.

The trio told an inquest into his death that they had been dancing
around the living room and failed to notice Mr McGrath had been in the
lavatory for up to an hour.

They called an ambulance but doctors were unable to save
him.

All three were later arrested on suspicion of possessing a class A
drug and later given police cautions.

After hearing their account, Mr Meadows said: 'This touches all of
society.

'You have a group of very middle-class people in their 30s who thought
they were having a good time. They ended up having an extremely
traumatic experience.'

Tests revealed that Mr McGrath, a former Butlins redcoat who weighed
17 stone, had an enlarged heart and partially blocked arteries.

Pathologist Dr Richard Lumb told the hearing that long-term use of
amphetamines could damage the heart and that taking the drug could
cause it to beat quickly and irregularly, potentially leading to
cardiac arrest.

Mr McGrath was slightly below the drink-drive limit and his cause of
death was recorded as alcohol and amphetamine toxicity. Mr Meadows
ruled that he died from non-dependent use of drugs.

Mr Davison said his friend sometimes took drugs on nights out, but his
mother Ann said her son was 'not a druggie'.

The solicitor, who has resigned from his job following the death of
his friend, claimed to have taken drugs just three times in 14 years.

'It's been horrendous what has happened, to lose a friend like this,'
he said.

He is expected to face censure from the Law Society, which regulates
solicitors.