Unsuspecting party-goers may be taking a potent new drug which leaves users so aggressive they need to be sedated, a Dunedin-based toxicologist warns.
Six people who thought they were taking the Class B drug ecstasy were treated at Middlemore Hospital after suffering seizures and hallucinations last week.
Dr Leo Schep, a toxicologist at the National Poisons Centre in Dunedin, told the Otago Daily Times the symptoms suggested it may be MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone), a potent hallucinogen going by the streetname "bath salts".
The drug had been linked to deaths overseas.
"For some vulnerable people, it has contributed to them taking their lives, and it has been an issue in America," he said.
The drug was more potent than ecstasy in terms of effects and "we have a cluster of people in Auckland suggesting there may be some tablets out there that may contain 'bath salts'."
Ecstasy was the street name for MDMA, which in its pure form would not cause the symptoms experienced by the Auckland users, he said.
Dr Schep said while the drug had been an issue in the United States, he believed its arrival in New Zealand was more an aberration - "I would like to think it is".
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency would introduce a one-year ban on the components of "bath salts" next month, while a permanent ban on the product was investigated.
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said methylenedioxypryovalerone (MDPV) was illegal in New Zealand as it was a controlled drug analogue of the Class B2 controlled drug pyrovalerone.
