It’s understood that three people have died from these particular tablets in recent weeks.
A batch of strong and dangerous ecstasy pills are currently being dispensed across Ireland and the UK, leaving those who take them in harrowing circumstances.
The pills, or ‘Blue Punishers’, are irregular pentagons in shape, and feature a Punisher skull on the front which is bordered.
Just this week, the HSE issued drug harm reduction information to Irish festival goers, following the tragic deaths of two young people at a UK festival.
18-year-old Georgie Jones and 20-year-old Tommy Cowan fell ill at separate times at the Mutiny Festival in Portsmouth last week. They were both taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth where they later died.
Three men have since been arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs.
Humans of The Sesh, a parody Twitter account which pokes fun at everyday life and provides revealing information into the world of drugs, festivals and partying in Ireland, posted a tweet on Friday afternoon warning festival goers of the perilous tablets that seem to have made their way to Irish shores.
Super strong (300ml) pills going around called Blue Punishers. If you see one of your friends trying to flop em back his neck tell em to wide.
also before someone replies with 'sounds unreal lad 😂' people have died from these pills and just stop it fergal
— Humans of The Sesh (@humansofthesesh) June 1, 2018
“Super strong (300ml) pills going around called Blue Punishers. If you see one of your friends trying to flop ’em back his neck tell ’em to wide,” their tweet said.
They also posted a picture of the pills, keen to inform potential users.
scary looking lads pic.twitter.com/d5aoccCZXT
— Humans of The Sesh (@humansofthesesh) June 1, 2018
JOE got in touch with the person behind the Twitter page, who informed us of the potentially fatal consequences of taking the drugs.
“They’re over 300mg and there’s a couple of dodgy copycat batches around too,” they began.
“I heard four people died from taking them: two in UK (pretty sure they’re the pills from mutiny festival deaths) one in Northern Ireland and one in Ireland. It’s mad how strong they are!
“If you just bought one and took one at a festival/club you’d be demented.”
They then went on to claim that the pills are “like four times” the strength of normal pills in that category.
A stat that has also been reported by Mixmag this week.
According to Pill Report, the ‘Blue Punisher’ tablets contain MDMA with traces of 4-Fluoromethylphenidate (4F-MPH).
4F-MPH is a stimulant drug that acts as a higher potency dopamine reuptake inhibitor than the closely related methylphenidate, otherwise known as Ritalin. The diamond-shaped pills are also said to have a “strong aniseed/chemical smell”.
Reports warning of the dangers of the drugs have insisted that if anyone spots them being taken at a festival or nightclub, security staff should be told straight away.
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