Thousands of fake Ecstasy pills - made from a dangerous mix of antihistamine and 'ice' - are being sold in clubs.
The Government Laboratory, which tests all drug hauls, found 3,400 pills containing the mix of 'upper' and 'downer' drugs from January to October this year, compared with just 196 in the whole of last year. Seizures of both genuine and fake Ecstasy pills have nearly tripled in those 10 months.
Police are looking at the mainland as a possible source of fake pills. Users who mixed the pills with alcohol said they lost consciousness, although they did not seek hospital treatment.
The genuine Ecstasy pills, made of methylene dioxy methamphetamine or its offshoot MDEA, match those in Holland and Germany, from where most Ecstasy is imported.
The fake pills look like Ecstasy, carry similar imprinted symbols - such as apples, butterflies and champagne glasses - and sell for between $250 and $300. But they are substantially cheaper and require less expertise to make.
Regular use of the rave drug permanently alters the brain and causes depression. Fatal complications include brain haemorrhaging, liver and kidney failure and shock.