TERRIFIED parents today told how they feared their son would die after he took a notorious ‘herbal high’. Paul Clare and Tracey Robinson found their 15-year-old son on his bedroom floor, foaming at the mouth and severely distressed after trying Black Mamba. At one terrifying stage the Blackpool schoolboy – who was hallucinating – made an attempt to jump out of a second floor window. The boy, who The Gazette has agreed not to name, had smoked the synthetic cannabis with a friend after one of the teenagers allegedly bought it from a Blackpool market stall. Friends told them it would them give “a buzz”.
But Mr Clare and Ms Robinson’s son had to be taken to hospital after paramedics were called to their Kent Road home. Mr Clare, 34, said: “He was foaming at the mouth and white as a sheet. “Parents need to be aware of this and that it’s on sale in shops. I hope what happened to my boy will convince other kids to not take it. “I nearly lost my son.”
Black Mamba, which is sold as incense, has reportedly left many teenagers traumatised – leading to one MP calling for it to be made illegal. The latest case came at 4.45pm on Wednesday. Mr Clare and Ms Robinson’s son tried the drug with a 17-year-old friend who claimed to have bought it from Foxhall Market. He had smoked the herbal high through a bong – or pipe – and said at first he felt nothing. The drug quickly took effect though, causing the boy to start coughing, collapse and hallucinate.
The Unity College pupil told how he made attempts to jump from his second floor window as he thought a stranger was in his bedroom. His parents, who were downstairs looking after their other eight children, were alerted by their older daughter and rang 999 immediately. The boy was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where he was monitored by staff and later discharged at 6.30pm.
