The drug leaves those who take it standing or squatting motionless, with some keeling over.
They were filmed in Manchester where there has been a surge in emergency admissions to hospital as a result of the drug.
One man who said he took it said: ‘I have used it for about two years. It’s cheap in bundles and they are going for daft prices.
‘Heroin users are saying it’s the worst stuff going. It’s dangerous.’
However, there are fears that a more dangerous strand of the drug is now circulating on the streets of Manchester.
Julie Boyle, a support worker with charity Lifeshare, said she called an ambulance to help a woman who had taken the drug. Paramedics said they had been called out 26 times that day to similar incidents.
She said: ‘In the city centre there are people who just look like they are frozen, like the walking dead, sat in a catatonic state not moving.
‘You wouldn’t even know they were alive – it’s like when you press pause on the telly. They don’t know where they are.
‘I first noticed it probably the beginning of last week but then it’s intensified more as the week’s gone on.’
The number of people admitted to hospital has grown significantly
The charity believes that 95 per cent of young homeless people in Manchester are on Spice – a general term for a synthetic drug originally classed as a legal high but outlawed last April. It is now being dealt on the streets instead of being bought in shops.
The drug has already been causing chaos, with Lifeshare warning of youngsters being trafficked, gang raped, contracting HIV and even dying as a result. But Julie told the MEN the latest strain – which she is hoping to get tested for its contents – is even worse.
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