DANGER DRUGS ALERT FOR NEW YEAR CLUBBERS

Britain's anti-drugs co-ordinator gave a warning yesterday that youngsters
seeking chemical kicks on New Year's Eve risk exposing themselves to
adulterated drugs believed to be flooding the market because of
unprecedented demand.

Police are worried that extra supplies of drugs have been stockpiled for
the millennium trade and some are dangerously adulterated. A warning about
adulterated Ecstasy has already appeared on the Internet in the past month.

Yesterday Keith Hellawell urged youngsters to think before taking a risk.

Mr Hellawell said: "Just a moment of deceived euphoria can cause a lifetime
of devastation."

He said it was important to get the dangers of drug use across to young
people. He asked why many young people seemed to "virtually dance with
death", adding: "Why do they take these substances in recreational
circumstances that they know have the potential to damage and kill them?"

He was speaking as Strathclyde Police waited for forensic tests on
15-year-old Kerry-Ann Kirk, who was found dead on Boxing Day and is
believed to have taken a heroin substitute.

Miss Kirk is thought to have been given methadone, a powerful synthetic
opiate normally prescribed to addicts. She had never apparently been known
to be involved with drugs and was at a party at her 16-year-old boyfriend's
home. She was found dead on a bed at the house the next day.

There were reports yesterday that the partygoers found a bottle of
methadone and tried the drug. Methadone is often stronger than street
heroin and has caused deaths among a number of addicts.

The Strathclyde region, which has a major heroin problem, has seen 146
drug-related deaths this year.

Scotland's First Minister spoke out against the "false glamour" of drugs.
Speaking on Scot FM radio, Donald Dewar said of Miss Kirk's death: "It's
very, very sad and worrying, but it's as worrying as the 145 that went
before. It's a tragedy for the individual, for the family and, of course,
for the community.

"But the sad, sad thing is that, despite the best efforts in the fields of
education, social work and the medical field and crime prevention field, we
just have not yet been able to roll back this scourge. We've got to
continue unremitting efforts."

Mr Dewar was asked if the war against drugs was being lost. He said: "I
think there's a false glamour still about drugs. I don't think the younger
generation have really appreciated the damage and the risks that they run."

Mr Hellawell's comments follow a warning last month on the Internet from
the United States that some tablets appearing in Britain as Ecstasy
contained a chemical called DXM, which could be dangerous if taken like the
dance drug.

The pills, known as Green Triangles because of their appearance, have been
sold in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Oakland, and contain
dextromethorphan. The chemical is usually found in cough medicines and will
cause increased body temperature and inhibits sweating.

DXM is usually taken recreationally at home. Its effects could be very
dangerous in a club, and the warning from an Ecstasy information site urges
caution. If Ecstasy is added or included in the pills with DXM the user
could have liver problems.

Just before Christmas the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS)
also warned against adulterated drugs and a sharp rise in seiz-ures of
cargoes of synthetic drugs, mainly from Europe.

Nick Wilson, head of the NCIS drugs unit, said he was concerned that the
combination of the millennium and extra drug supplies would tempt
partygoers to experiment.

He said: "People who buy illegal drugs have no way of knowing the true
content of what they are buying. They risk some appalling side effects -
even death - a criminal record and further enhancing the evil spread of
organised crime."

NCIS has noted that 1,951lb of Ecstasy have been found in the first 11
months of this year, against 550lb for the whole of 1998. More than a third
has been found since October.

Police have also found evidence that gangs are setting up their own
laboratories in Britain and importing the raw materials from China and
Eastern Europe.

Yesterday Scotland Yard gave a warning that extra officers on duty for the
millennium celebrations would be watching for drug dealing. The Yard said
there would be no relaxation in enforcing the law for dealers or users, and
a tourist policing guide issued by the Yard for the millennium also spells
out that drug possession is illegal in Britain.