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Exclusive by Angela Cole
acole@thekmgroup.co.uk
A fifth person has had to be rushed to hospital in just two weeks after taking a drug similar to ecstasy.
The man, in his early 20s, was found in a collapsed state and taken to be seen by the Urban Blue Bus volunteers in Maidstone at around midnight on Saturday.
But he was rushed to hospital after they discovered a racing pulse, high temperature and breathing difficulties.
He told staff he had taken the red pill Rockstar which was also taken by three men and a woman two weeks ago – three in Maidstone and one in Medway – who all had to be hospitalised.
But within 20 minutes of his condition being monitored he developed the same racing pulse, high temperature and breathing difficulties that the others had suffered and volunteers immediately called an ambulance.
On the first occasion, one of the men developed such a serious reaction, volunteers feared he could die.
campaign warning about the dangers of the drug has been launched by The incident comes despite a massive awareness campaign by police, involving Maidstone club and pub owners. in the County Town in the last two weeks.
Rob Garner, bus manager of the Urban Blue bus, said: “Last time, we weren’t sure what they had taken, but this time he told the people who found him that he had taken the Rockstar so w. pill.
“So we were aware of what it is and we were able to take appropriate steps a lot quicker.”
“There are posters up everywhere and tstaff on the door are making people aware of this drug. The clubs are have been really helping spread the word about the dangers.”