AN illegal drug so dangerous it has left at least three people fighting for life can be bought online in seconds, a Sun probe reveals today. Lethal 2CB is so potent one teenage girl was said to resemble “something from The Exorcist” while high — and tried to leap from a window. But The Sun was able to buy a super-strength tablet on the web for just £40 — half the price of a gram of coke — from a UK dealer and have it delivered in the post. Yet the hallucinogen, which comes as pills, capsules or powder, has terrifying, unpredictable effects. Emma Barnes, 19, was stopped from jumping out of a building in Kendal, Cumbria, last month. She was taken to hospital to be sedated — where she bit a PC.
And Bristol student Tom Bellmont was believed to be 2CB’s latest victim after he tried to claw off his face. Drug expert Dr Owen Bowden-Jones said: “People have an acute psychotic episode and lose touch with reality for up to six hours. In that time they’re psychologically disturbed and can do dangerous things such as jumping from windows and harming themselves. “People buying this drug are guinea pigs. It’s really difficult to predict the effects, but they can be catastrophic.” There are fears the narcotic, invented in the 1970, may cause physical long-term problems and mental ones such as depression, anxiety and psychosis.
Dr Bowden-Jones, of London’s Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, is probing its effects but said: “We probably won’t know for a year or two.” Last night MPs hailed our probe. Tory Andrew Griffiths, who sits on a Commons drugs group, said: “I commend The Sun. Parents will be horrified at how easy it is to have it delivered.” Home Affairs Select Committee chief Keith Vaz added: “I’ll ask the Home Secretary to look at what you uncovered.”
