Teenagers may be first to die from legal drug

A LEGAL drug being marketed as plant food may have claimed its first victims in Britain following the deaths of two teenagers in North Lincolnshire.

Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Joshua Smith, 19, died on Monday after a night out together in Scunthorpe when they had apparently taken a drug known as M-CAT.

The “legal high”, which comes in powder form and is snorted or taken orally, is sold over the internet or by street dealers and is also known as Mephedrone, MC, MIEOW, MEOW and 4MMC.

Police are investigating the deaths and have urged anyone who has taken the drug to seek medical advice urgently.

One of two men arrested in connection with the deaths is having tests in hospital after also apparently taking the drug, which acts as a stimulant. A woman is in hospital being examined for the drug.

Det Chief Insp Mark Oliver, of Humberside Police, said: “From our investigations we have information to suggest these deaths are linked to M-CAT.

“We would encourage anyone who may have taken the drug or knows somebody who has taken the drug to attend a local hospital as a matter of urgency.”

The substance, which has become popular on the UK club scene in recent months, is legal in Britain but is subject to a Government safety probe.

Side-effects include psychosis, weight loss, insomnia, headaches and nose bleeds. Knees and hand joints can turn purple.

Mr Wainwright was found dead at his home in Low Burgage, Winteringham, at noon.

Mr Smith was discovered at an address in Redbourne Street, Scunthorpe, just after 4.20pm.

The pair had been drinking together until early on Monday. Post-mortem examinations to establish how they died are being carried out.

In January, a sixth-form pupil at Woldgate School in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, spent a night in hospital when he collapsed after taking the drug.

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