It is wreaking havoc across the country and there is evidence it is here in Liverpool
A drug with similar effects to 'Spice' is leaving a trail of destruction in its wake as its use spreads across the country. 'Monkey Dust' is a synthetic psychoactive drug, similar to 'Spice', which has already been linked to the death of a baby.
The drug is causing particular concern in Stoke-on-Trent, but there have been incidents here in Liverpool, linked to its use. It is also sold under names like 'M1' and 'magic crystals' and more sinisterly as 'Zombie Dust' and 'Cannibal Dust'. The drug is thought to stop users from feeling pain and cause hallucinations and severe paranoia. It can also induce hypothermia by producing high body temperatures, Mirror Online reports.
Price and potency underlie why it has become so popular so quickly. It usually comes in a white powder, can cost as little as £2 and provides a high that lasts up to 12 hours- StokeOnTrentLive reports. Like Spice, it is reportedly produced in labs in China before being imported into the UK. The drug has left a trail of devastation in its wake. Following a surge in its use locally, police in Stoke reported in 2018 they had responded to reports that users had even jumped from buildings and run into traffic.
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Here in Liverpool in 2019 a man 'high on monkey dust' was jailed for stabbing a dog in the head as part of a rampage in which he also kicked a police officer in the face.
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A user, known only as Simon, gave a rare insight into the drug in July 2023, telling StokeOnTrentLive that he lost his job as a plumber and his home. He admitted at the height of his addiction he was taking it every day, and lost everything. He went from a comfortable two-bedroom house to sleeping rough in a tent.
He told the publication: "I got into dust, monkey dust, lost everything, and now I'm on the floor. I'm still taking dust. It's all we do all day, rush around, try to get fed and try to get hold of dust, because it's so addictive.
"They offer it to you. It's homeless people, trying to make ends meet, dealing. People push it, they want to get you hooked, and then they exploit you."
He backed calls for it to be reclassified a class A drug, adding: "It's Class A all the way for me, duck. I think it should be Class A plus, plus plus.
"As in, get this dust, it's so good, you're going away for the rest of your life, because it's in plenty of supply. I think it should be available on prescription, that way it would cut all the dealers out."
A heartbreaking inquest earlier this week heard a baby was exposed to the drug before his death at the age of just seven weeks. 'Neglected' Ronnie Higginson tragically died at his home on November 26, 2019, after going into cardiac arrest. Just days before his death, concerns were raised over his health, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
His parents were told to take him to a hospital or a walk-in centre due to his cough and difficulty breathing. But that never happened, the inquest into his death heard. One social worker who had visited the family home, in Cobridge in Stoke-on-Trent, in the weeks before Ronnie was born described the conditions as some of the worst she had seen in 16 years as a child protection worker. She said she was 'taken aback' by the conditions inside the home.
Following his death, Ronnie's mum Kayleigh Clarke was jailed for 27 months after being convicted of child cruelty by neglect. Partner Michael Higginson received a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after being convicted of the same charge.
Ronnie's cause of death has never been ascertained. Toxicology tests revealed psycho-active substances in his blood and urine. The coroner recorded an open verdict.
The drug was linked to another death in Stoke in 2023. The body of Adam Shaw, from Stoke-on-Trent, was discovered by a camper at Key Wood near the River Churnet, a short distance from Alton Towers.
His phone, coat, trainers and wallet have never been found and his clothes were found in a neat pile next to him. The 41-year-old's worried family had reported him missing to Staffordshire Police almost four weeks earlier, after he failed to collect his prescription.
An inquest into his death heard there had been sightings of Adam with a female companion in a car that had become stuck in the mud on September 17. Another walker had seen Adam staring into the distance over the river later that night.
But it was not until October 11 that Adam's naked body was finally found in dense woodland on the other side of the river where there is no crossing. The inquest heard that Adam, who had a four-year-old son at the time of his death, had battled issues with heroin and monkey dust in the past, and had been in communication with various addiction services in Staffordshire.
Recording an open verdict, North Staffordshire coroner Andrew Berkley said: "From the evidence we have, I am afraid I am unable to say how he died. I am satisfied there was no evidence of trauma or anyone else at the scene. There is no positive evidence that allows me to rule a drug-related death. "
Last week a court heard how another user in Stoke, James Watkins, turned to monkey dust after losing his job during Covid. The 35-year-old was jailed for his part during riots which took place in the Hanley area of the town on August 3.
He was verbally abusive, gesturing, and wielded a bottle after being struck by a police shield, the court was told. Watkins, of Sherwin Road, Stanfield, was jailed for three years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after admitting a charge of violent disorder. He told the court he was now drugs-free.
There is also evidence that the drug is in Greater Manchester. Last year the Manchester Evening News reported the shocking case of a predator under the influence who forced his way into a woman's home before trying to rape her.
Darren Roche was jailed for life following the terrifying attack at a flat in Manchester city centre. Roche, 37, fuelled by a cocktail of drugs including monkey dust, had been released from prison just weeks earlier having previously been locked up for sexual assault.
Manchester Crown Court heard that two days before the attempted rape, Roche had grabbed hold of a woman on the street before she was able to get away. He was branded 'every woman's worst nightmare' in court.
Monkey dust first emerged as a legal alternative to stimulants like MDMA and amphetamines, in the same way that Spice was marketed as a legal alternative to cannabis. Both were subsequently banned and reclassified as 'Class B' drugs, which means it carries lower sentencing penalties for possession or sale than 'Class A' drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Last year the Home Office committed to assessing the harms caused by Monkey Dust, which could lead to it being classified as 'Class A',. following campaigning by the then-MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, Jack Brereton.
A BBC documentary broadcast in February exposed the problems which seem to be afflicting Stoke more than anywhere else. One man who works with addicts in Stoke said the drug as the one that 'took off' among what was once a number of legal highs and had become a 'big problem'.
He told the program: "And all the rest of them stopped because nobody wanted them, everybody wanted that and it's grown and grown and grown and now it is a city-wide epidemic.
"You won't meet many people in Stoke-On-Trent now who haven't been affected in some way – like a family member or a friend or a friend's son," he said, advocating it being reclassified as a class A drug."
