Clubbers are being warned about a heightened risk of overdosing on ecstasy, amid evidence that the purity of the drug has increased to potentially dangerous levels.

Deaths caused by ecstasy in England and Wales have increased steadily in recent years, from eight in 2010 to 43 in 2013, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

Tests on drugs confiscated at festivals this summer as well as at the Warehouse Project (WHP) club in Manchester show that ecstasy purity is at its highest level for about 10 years.

The rise in fatalities may partially be explained by the availability of “super-strength” ecstasy. One recent formulation reportedly contained nearly two and a half times the standard dose of MDMA (ecstasy’s active ingredient) per pill, according to DrugScope, the UK’s leading independent centre of expertise on drugs and drug use.



Fiona Measham, professor of criminology at Durham University, who regularly tests drugs at WHP and elsewhere, says the average ecstasy tablet now contains 100mg of MDMA; in 2009, seen by experts as a nadir in drug purity, the average ecstasy pill contained just 20-30mg. An “acceptable” dose for an average-sized adult during one drug-taking session is 70-75mg, according to Measham.

“Our concern now is that people who over the years have been used to taking two or three tablets in a night might still do the same. With the purity, the results could be severe,” said Sacha Lord, who runs WHP.

While being clear that it does not condone taking drugs, the club now sends out warnings on its Twitter feed before big nights that read: “On-site tests reveal very high purity ecstasy & MDMA in circulation. Dangers include overheating, seizures, heart problems. Please be careful.”

Last year WHP was warning customers of the dangers of PMA, a potentially lethal drug often mis-sold as MDMA, which takes far longer to take effect, thus increasing the risk of an overdose. It was wrongly assumed that PMA caused the death of a WHP customer in September 2013. But an inquest last week revealed that Nick Bonnie, 30, died from ecstasy and cocaine poisoning. He unknowingly took almost 15 times the recreational dose of MDMA, the coroner said.

Earlier this year the mother of a 15-year-old girl who died in Oxford in 2013 after swallowing 0.5g of 91% pure MDMA called for drugs to be legalised to prevent similar tragedies. Anne-Marie Cockburn urged politicians to change UK drug policy after the inquest into the death of her daughter, Martha Fernback.

Measham said the increased purity of ecstasy was probably due to manufacturers finding new ways to synthesise the drug. “The reason the purity dropped so low a few years ago was because law enforcement agencies managed to disrupt the supply chain of the precursor ingredients used to make ecstasy,” she said.

“Now we think that manufacturers have figured out a new way of making ecstasy without it. It’s like making a cake: there’s more than one ways to make one, you can use butter or margarine. But we don’t know for sure. Naturally, the industrial manufacture of class-A drugs is shrouded in mystery.”

Measham’s findings are echoed in this year’s report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which notes a new surge in the availability of high-quality ecstasy powders and pills in Europe. In the Netherlands, where most ecstasy taken in the UK is made, a greater number of production sites for synthetic drugs (mostly ecstasy and amphetamine) were closed down last year than in previous years, according to the Dutch ministry of justice. During raids more stashes of drug manufacturing equipment and precursor chemicals – as well as “pre-precursors” – were also uncovered.

In Manchester, Lord said his team at WHP thought long and hard about whether to warn customers about the high-strength drugs, worrying that it might encourage people to take them. “We considered it, but I would rather say something than not say anything. People may think ‘Oh, the PMA scare is over, it’s safe again.’ I would much rather warn people that the quality is that high and that it could cause all these issues if you take too much,” he said.

Though no WHP clubbers have been taken to hospital since its 2014 season started in September, about four of the 2,000 punters who attend each night end up being treated by on-site paramedics, mostly for drug-related issues, said Lord.

He said it tended to be older revellers who were affected: “It’s not the 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds who go out every week who are ending up poorly; it’s the older ones who only go out once in a blue moon.

“Having only been out a few times a year they are of the wrong opinion that the tablets aren’t as strong as they were in the Haçienda days,” said Lord, adding that he was “nervous” about WHP hosting a event on Boxing Day themed around the famous Manchester club.

Home Office figures show that seizures of class-A drugs, including ecstasy, were up this year by 1% – a trend Measham thinks will continue. “The Home Office will be hoping it’s just a blip, but I have a hunch that more people will take ecstasy if they know it’s pure. Young people have been telling me that even a year ago it wasn’t seen as widely accepted to do so, or as easily available.”