Mr Dawson said he “would not be surprised” if heroin was to show up in the women’s toxicology reports but would not pre-empt the results. Loading “The point I’d stress is that there’s a bad batch of drugs out there,” he said. “I cannot tell you definitively what type of drug – or indeed whether there is a bunch of different substances that are being taken – but to lose three young adult lives in the Perth metropolitan area in one day... police are duty-bound to warn the community whenever we see a very spiked increase in apparent drug overdoses.” Police were called about 8am on Saturday to reports the 21-year-old man had died in hospital after an apparent overdose while at the Metro City nightclub in Northbridge, however there were no indications as to what drugs he had taken, or how.

The two women – the 23-year-old from Fremantle and the 25-year-old from Leederville – overdosed at private residences. Police were called to those incidents just after midday and about 4pm on Saturday, respectively. Mr Dawson said reports from St John Ambulance also showed a worrying spike in overdoses in the week leading up to Saturday’s deaths – more than 20 a day for three days. “On the 4th of December, 24 persons were responded to by police and/or ambulance,” he said. “On the 5th of December, 29 persons were suspected of having overdosed, and on the 6th of December, 26 persons were treated for suspected overdoses. “On Saturday the 7th, the day that we had those three deaths, there were a reported 12 overdoses.”

Mr Dawson said police would “urgently” seek toxicology reports and work with other authorities to stop more young adults dying and sounded a stark warning for other drug users: “Do not take drugs that are illicit ... people are dying.” “Drugs of certain types are illegal for a particular reason – that is they may kill you or seriously endanger your health. “If you don’t know what you’re taking, do not take it. If you are taking illicit substances, you do so at a very high risk of your own personal harm. “There’s clearly a bad batch out there.” The Commissioner echoed what WA Premier Mark McGowan said on Sunday when he described the deaths as a tragedy for those involved and a warning to not take drugs.

“We have very significant programs to educate people about not taking drugs, we have significant rehabilitation programs across Western Australia and we have major law enforcement initiatives but I urge people once again, don’t start on drugs because if you do, the consequences can be tragic,” Mr McGowan said. “If you aren’t going to start out on drugs, these things aren’t going to happen to you.” Mr Dawson said he was "scathing" about the idea there could be "quality control" when it came to illicit drugs. "If you're going to inject illicit drugs, you have no idea where it comes from and you have no certainty it won't cause you death or serious harm," he said. While there had been a "bad run" of heroin overdoses about 20-30 years ago, Mr Dawson said he couldn't recall in recent history when there had been three deaths in one day.