A MOTHER whose teenage son died after taking just one ecstasy tablet says youngsters are playing Russian roulette with their lives by taking recreational drugs.

Janice Muehlthaler's 18-year-old son Ben Glass died in September after taking a pill with friends. She said: "This is a warning to others to just think about what they are doing."

Mr Glass, of Brier Road, Sittingbourne, died at Raspberry Hill, Iwade, on September 28 after he and three friends took ecstasy tablets. They all fell asleep due to the combined effects of the amphetamine and cannabis they had been smoking, but Mr Glass never woke up.

The coroner at the resumed inquest into his death today recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

The inquest at Gillingham heard how the friends were returning from an arcade in Leysdown on Sheppey when Mr Glass told Daniel Holness, Daniel Stanley and Joe Cloude that he had some "clogs"-- a type of ecstasy pill.

The group, who often smoked cannabis together, agreed to each try one and drove to a secluded spot at Raspberry Hill at about 8pm.

Mr Stanley told the inquest that he took his pill during the journey. The other three took theirs once they parked. They all admitted they did not know what they were taking.

When Mr Glass failed to wake up, they called an ambulance and tried in vain to resuscitate him, aided by a police dog handler and paramedic who happened to be passing.

A postmortem confirmed Mr Glass had taken the equivalent of one MDMA, or ecstasy, tablet.

Pathologist Dr David Rouse said his death could have been related to a family history of the rare heart disease cardiomiopathy, but there was no conclusive evidence that Mr Glass suffered from the condition. Combined with ecstasy, it can have fatal consequences, he said.

Coroner Roger Sykes confirmed the cause of death was MDMA, or ecstasy, poisoning.

He said: "This sends a loud warning signal that even a single ecstasy tablet cannot be regarded as a safe recreational pastime.

"Here we have heard about a young man taking a single tablet and dying as a result."