'UFO drug' possible cause for Saintfield teenagers death
An 18-year-old man from Saintfield has died in hospital, having been rushed there after apparently taking a drug known as a 'UFO.'
He has been named locally as Jonathan Ramsey and had been living in the Downpatrick area.
A post mortem is being carried out to establish the cause of his death, but it has been strongly linked to the UFO pill.
The drug is believed to be a form of ecstasy mixed with other illegal substances.
Alex Bunting, Program Manager for Addiction NI, said the drug was being mixed with a substance called PMA instead of the usual MDMA: "The difficulty with PMA versus MDMA is the amount of time it takes to take effect.
"So what happens to someone usually is they don't feel anything so they double up and end up overdosing.
"Unfortunately, this young lad looks like he has got into difficulties with this dryg."
He said that the service is struggling to keep up with the more lethal substances that are being developed.
"You're seeing chemists sitting probably halfway around the world, coming up with synthetic drugs that are being targeted towards this market," he said.
"We're always playing catch-up, the toxiclogists, the coroners are always playing catch-up.
"It is now at the point where people need to sit up and take notice."
A police spokesperson said: "Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of an 18 year old man from the Downpatrick area today, Tuesday 24 October.
"A post mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death. There are no further details at this time."