A man thought to have been killed by the drug MDMA had taken a “much more potent version” of Spice, Greater Manchester Police has said.
Police now believe that the 26-year-old man from Rochdale took a crystallised and unrefined version of the drug Spice.
Ch Supt Neil Evans, described the development as “extremely worrying”.
Ten people were admitted to hospital after taking the drug over the weekend, with four kept in intensive care.
A police spokesman said they were hospitalised after taking what was thought to be a new form of MDMA, known as “pink champagne”.
But he added: “It is now believed that this substance was in fact a synthetic cannabinoid, like ‘Spice’, however it was sold as MDMA.”
Ch Supt Neil Evans said: “This is the first time we have seen ‘Spice’ in crystallised, and much more potent and unrefined form and it’s now being mistakenly taken as MDMA.”
