Thriller Killers

Perfectly legal, yet potentially deadly, this year's festivals will be flooded with a new wave of lethal party drugs. Fabulous investigates

When she fell out with her best friend, Liz Bradley was confident it wouldn't be long before she and Hester Stewart made up again.

Nicknamed Team Blonde, the two young medical students often bickered, but they never stayed angry at each other for long.

This time, though, they didn't get the chance to say sorry. Two weeks after their tiff, Hester was dead from a drugs overdose. She hadn't bought her fix from a seedy backstreet dealer - the drug that killed her is perfectly legal and freely available to buy on the high street or over the internet for as little as 50p a shot.

Hester was 21 and the latest young woman to become a victim of 'legal highs' - drugs that are as easy to buy as cigarettes, but as deadly as heroin or cocaine.

Liz (left) and Hester

Liz, 21, who met Hester at Sussex University, says: "I miss Hester every day. I can't even put into words how much. It's like half of me is gone.

"She was the most amazing and loving friend you could ever wish for - wise, beautiful and intelligent with the world at her feet. Even though she was spontaneous and could get overexcited about things, she wasn't an idiot - particularly when it came to something like drugs. If she'd thought for an instant this drug was dangerous, I know she'd never have touched it and would still be here today."

The substance that killed Hester is the 'party drug' GBL, also known as 'coma in a bottle'. Its official name is gamma-butyrolactone and it's used as an industrial paint stripper and rust remover.

But a rising number of young people have found another use for it.

A shot of the colourless, odourless liquid mixed with orange juice or water and then swallowed produces an effect similar to taking Ecstasy. The user feels relaxed, chatty and flirtatious and, because it's legal, they wrongly assume it's perfectly safe.

Most are unaware of the dangers, but GBL is easier to overdose on than heroin. Getting the concentration even slightly wrong can result in nausea, blackouts, coma and even death - especially when mixed with alcohol.

"It's incredibly dangerous," says Dr Sean Cummings, who runs a private GP practice in Harley Street. "I'm seeing more and more people in my drugs counselling clinic who take it - and some of them are addicted.

"It's very easy to overdose on GBL - mixing it with alcohol can also be fatal. It sends you into a coma where your breathing slows and the cough reflex is suppressed. If you're sick, you can inhale your own vomit and drown. It really is a horrible way to die."

Alarmingly, he estimates that over the past few years, at least 20 people in the UK have died after taking GBL. And it's normally young partygoers looking for new highs without straying outside the law.

Young women like Sarah O'Dowd. She was just 24 when Liam, her husband of five months, found her dead in the bath at their home in Leeds in October 2007. It's thought Sarah, who ran a website selling GBL, had fallen asleep after taking it and drowned.

Yet while the drug was banned in America, Canada and Sweden five years ago, and countries such as France and Germany run poster campaigns in clubs to raise awareness of its dangers, it's still available to buy in Britain.

Last October, recommendations from Government advisors that it should be banned in the UK went unheeded.

It's only now, following a campaign by Hester's heartbroken mother Maryon, a leading nutritionist from Lewes, East Sussex, that the Government is looking to bring in a ban this summer.

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But it's too late for Hester - she was found dead at the home of a former boyfriend in April.

The student, who was in her second year of studying molecular medicine, had been attending an awards ceremony with her university cheerleading squad.

The next morning her body was found - a vial of GBL lying nearby. A post-mortem confirmed she'd taken the drug and an inquest into her death will resume next month.

But while the campaign by Hester's family and friends could finally see GBL banned, there are lots of other 'legal highs' on the market.

John Ramsey, a toxicologist and director of Tictac Communications at London's St George's Medical School, is one of the leading experts in the field.

He says nitrous oxide - or laughing gas - has become incredibly popular with clubbers and festival-goers.

Normally used as a propellant in whipped cream canisters, inhaling the nitrous oxide capsules can bring on two minutes of giggling, euphoria and even hallucinations.

"We attend festivals each year to keep tabs on what people are taking," he says. "Last year the fields at Glastonbury were littered with nitrous oxide capsules.

"While the substance itself is not that dangerous, it's the stupid things people do while under the influence that's of concern. For example, there was a case of someone putting a condom over their head and suffocating."

Statistics show that four people died as a direct result of using laughing gas in 2007 and figures for 2008 are predicted to be higher.

John Ramsey and his team are also concerned about so-called 'herbal highs', sold at festivals, in specialist herbal shops and in online stores known as 'head shops'.

"These sachets used to contain harmless herbs laced with a strong dose of caffeine, but now they're full of chemical concoctions that mimic the effect of street drugs," he says.

"They're actually more closely associated with cannabis, Ecstasy, and cocaine, but they are legal and this, along with the 'herbal' branding, mislead people into thinking they're safe."

In fact, experts believe that side effects could include schizophrenia, kidney and heart failure. And it's not just young people who are at risk.

Believing she was trying something harmless, Anna Casswell, 35, from Leicester, took herbal E at a festival last year.

"I wouldn't have taken illegal drugs, but I saw no harm in a legal high," recalls Anna, a mum of two. "I tried it, but soon afterwards I felt incredibly nauseous and then was very sick. I didn't get any kind of high and had no idea it was dangerous. It was dreadful."

Analysis has shown Ecstasy substitutes like herbal E can contain ephedrine and benzylpiperazine (BZP), which are both amphetamine-like stimulants.

"I've since read up about it online and was horrified to discover that something I thought was safe could have given me respiratory failure or a seizure," says Anna. "It's outrageous that something so dangerous can be sold so freely."

This month it was announced that the Government is drawing up a list of chemicals, including GBL, which it hopes to ban in the next few weeks under a fast-track scheme.

But for Liz, it is too little, too late.

"I'm heartbroken that Hester has become a poster girl for what these legal highs can do," she says.

"It hurts so much to think that this perfect girl had to die before the Government changes things and before people learn the risks of these 'party drugs'."

If you'd like to donate to the Hester Stewart Memorial Foundation, send cheques to PO Box 117, Rottingdean, BN51 9BG.

'I WENT INTO A COMA AFTER OVERDOSING ON PARTY DRUGS'
Zoe Wilson, 28, an IT worker from Leeds, thought legal highs were safe - until she got addicted.

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"When I first began clubbing in 2002, I'd take Ecstasy every so often. But I always felt it was very risky. People have died from taking it, and it can get you into trouble with the police. So when a friend offered me GBL, and told me it was legal, it seemed a much safer alternative.

The first time I had it was in a club in Leeds a few years ago. It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling and, unlike with alcohol, I felt in control and had no hangover the next day.

From then on, I didn't touch illegal drugs - I just bought GBL over the internet. At first, I'd take a couple of doses on a night out, but gradually found I needed more to feel the same high. Sometimes I'd drink alcohol as well, but not much.

It's easy to take too much GBL and go into a sort of coma. In clubs, you'd see people who'd overdosed and couldn't be woken up. I'd read about a woman who'd died after taking it too, but told myself I'd be OK.

All too soon, I couldn't do without it. I was getting through 50 shots a time at a cost of around £25, and taking it almost daily. I was even going to my job at an IT call centre high on GBL. I was in such a haze I didn't think anyone noticed, but they must have realised.

The lowest point came last July. I'd overdosed on GBL and passed out at a friend's flat - and woke up to find a man having sex with me. It was terrifying. I was almost in a coma, awake, but unable to move. I couldn't scream or fight him off. Once he realised my eyes were open, he stopped and ran out of the flat. I had no idea who he was and I felt too ashamed to tell the police.

That was rock bottom for me. I decided to stop taking GBL there and then. My cravings were severe. I felt depressed and irritable for months, but I haven't touched it since.

I'm seeing a drugs counsellor and making plans to start my own IT business. I'm determined to get my life back on track."

THE LOW-DOWN ON 'LEGAL HIGHS'
GBL: Nicknamed 'coma in a bottle', its legitimate use is as an industrial paint stripper or rust remover. But GBL is closely related to GHB, the date-rape drug banned in 2003. An overdose can cause vomiting, coma and even death.

HERBAL E: Contains BZP, an amphetamine-like stimulant, which was originally used as a worming tablet for cows. It can cause respiratory failure and seizures. There are Government plans to ban it.

SPICE: Marketed as a smoking blend of herbs, but tests have shown it contains a synthetic derivative of cannabis, which mirrors the effects of the drug but packs a much bigger punch. Experts fear it could cause psychotic episodes, heart attacks and schizophrenia.

NITROUS OXIDE: Also known as 'laughing gas'. Used as a propellant for whipped cream. Clubbers inhale it for a two-minute 'high'.

PHOTOGRAPHY: CLAIRE WOOD, ALAMY HAIR & MAKE-UP: HELEN ARCHER AT NEMESIS STYLING: LUCIE CLIFFORD ZOE WEARS: DRESS, LIMITED EDITION; BANGLE, DIVA AT MISS SELFRIDGE

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