There are fears that the ‘zombie drug’ known as Spice, which once roamed the homeless communities of Britain’s cities and towns, is now seeping back into the country as experts warn of a comeback.
Drug addicts on Spice have been spotted frozen on the spot as the extreme effects of the narcotic took hold.
In one terrifying incident, a woman was seen bending over as if picking up something from the street, but remained motionless for several minutes. She eventually collapsed in a heap on the ground as the crowd rushed to help in central Manchester.
There are fears that similar scenes have been witnessed in Britain in recent weeks and months and that people are turning again to the highly addictive psychoactive substance which was made illegal in Britain in May 2016. It can induce the infamous ‘zombie’-like catatonic state and for many years its use was widespread among Britain’s homeless population.
Some rough sleepers, as well as senior figures at homeless charities, say it may be making a comeback. James Black, 50, who begs at Primark in Market Street, Manchester, told the Manchester Evening News that he has been homeless on and off for 20 years. He said: “It’s that Spice. A lot of people still smoke it, it’s ruining the city.
“People just get off their faces and lie on the ground. It doesn’t affect me the way it affects others. For me, it keeps me from drinking because I was a raging alcoholic and drank three to four liters of vodka a day. But it’s like anything: it can be abused. I don’t think they (the police) will ever stop it. It’s not just homeless people who smoke it.
“You’d be surprised by the amount of people who stop me and say, ‘Can you get me some spices? Can you get me some stuff?’ Just every day, normal people. Things calmed down a bit when they stopped selling them on Bury New Road. People now go across the country to get it. They don’t even know what they’re smoking. It used to be tablets, but that’s all gone now. So I think people might go back to it.
Another rough sleeper sat with a sleeping bag draped over his knees and sat down next to him with a takeaway coffee someone had given him. The 32-year-old from Liverpool said he was in care as a youngster and then spent 11 years in and out of prison before coming to Manchester to stay with a friend and ending up on the streets here.
He said: “It’s coming back. Certainly. 100 percent. It’s definitely back now. It would always happen. They restrict one drug and it just forces another drug through. I’ve only had it a few times and I’m not a fan of it.
“It takes you away. It makes you unconscious and helps you sleep. You try to spend a night on the street, you would do anything to get a good night’s sleep. I know others are doing the same because it is cheap and available. It’s not as strong as it used to be, but it still scares people away. When you see them in the doorways, you know what they took.”
Expert Yvonne Hope, CEO of homeless charity Barnabus Manchester, says it’s a shame there’s been a ‘hiatus’ with Spice, but it’s back. She added: “We had a really nice long break from Spice and then last year it came back and it was the zombie Spice that we had seen before the pandemic, leaving people frozen.
“We’ve heard of people being attacked after taking it. I think it’s important to say that it’s not just people who are homeless who are taking this. There are people who come to the city center specifically to get their hands on it and take it away. The police are clearly working on that with all the work they do Piccadilly Gardens around the drug dealers.
“We believe that people living in China could not get their medicines here because of the pandemic. But I don’t know if there are people making things here now because it’s so widespread. It’s actually available, it’s pretty cheap. I would say that at this point most people we know are using crack instead of Spice, but crack, as you know, can have a similar effect. You just don’t know what people are taking.”