UK Edition
Drug dealers target children with pills which look like sweets and Lego, mother says
Children are being targeted by drug dealers who design ecstasy to look like sweets, the mother of a 16-year-old who died after taking the drug has warned, as three 12-year-old girls remain in hospital.
Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, whose son Daniel died after taking MDMA at an illegal rave in London in 2014, said that children need more awareness on drugs.
On Saturday evening, three girls were rushed to hospital in a serious condition after taking pills called "Teddy Tablets" in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Mrs Spargo-Mabbs, from Croydon, south London, says tablets are shaped like Lego bricks and given names such as "Rockstar" to appeal to children.
She said: "For most young people, even if they know it is ecstasy, they are not going to understand what that means.
"They look like sweets and are designed to appeal to kids - there has been ones shaped like Lego bricks, ones called Rockstar. They are designed to appeal to young people."
Her son Daniel died of multiple organ failure three days after taking MDMA, or ecstasy, when he went to a rave in Hayes, west London. He was among five friends who had clubbed together £80 to buy the class A drug before the party.
She said: "It's just so awful, they are just so young. I know what it's like being in the hospital, the awfulness of not knowing. I'm so relieved that hopefully they are going to be OK."
Following Daniel's death, Mrs Spargo-Mabbs and her husband Tim set up the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation to make youngsters aware of the dangers of drug abuse and take their drug awareness programmes into schools.
One of the girls was due to be discharged from hospital on Monday, while the other two remain in a stable condition.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a 22-year-old man and 21-year-old woman who were arrested on suspicion of being in possession of a controlled substance have been bailed until July 15.
They warned people to stay away from the party drug - which has already led to the death of a 22-year-old woman in recent weeks and a 17-year-old girl a few months ago.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Walker, of GMP's Salford Borough, said: "The girls took a type of ecstasy described as 'Teddy Tablets'.
"It is imperative young people understand the implications and avoid taking drugs, to stop any more young people ending up in hospital."
Mrs Spargo-Mabbs added that she believed that young people were using ecstasy more because of its availability and cost, but stressed that the drugs were "much stronger".
She added that parents needed to keep conversations about drugs "open and frank" and said youngsters needed to be armed with life skills to be able to navigate peer pressure.
"It's just ecstasy in a different form but it has all the same risks. They have no kind of awareness how strong it is. A 12-year-old's body is really small and not able to cope."
Anyone in possession of illegal substances is urged to hand them in to police, chemists or medical practitioners.