At 3:40am this morning (Sunday 25th October) police were called to a group of eight males in the Palmerston North CBD that were suffering the effects of taking an unknown substance.

The males were initially taken into custody by police and then transported to Palmerston North hospital for treatment.

At this stage it is unknown what substance the group had taken was, and enquiries regarding the substance and its source are continuing.

“This is a timely reminder to people of the dangers of taking substances where they don’t know the source” says Senior Sergeant Steve Crawford.

“If you are taking a substance that you don’t know where it is from or what it contains, you are taking very serious risks with your health and you are putting your life at risk”.

ENDS

There will be no further media comment at this stage.