Ravers are being warned of a dangerous new pill in circulation in a nightclub venue in Manchester.
The Warehouse Project warned that 'blue punisher pills' with 'strong effects' are in circulation at the club.
The venue took to Twitter to warn people of the dangers of these drugs, they said: "WARNING. Reports of Blue Punisher Pills having strong effects.
Advert
"Please be safe & aware. If unwell please speak to a member of staff.
"Welfare & medical areas are located next to the smoking area. They offer a non-judgemental & safe space if you need help."
The pills are easily recognisable as they tend to have the logo for Marvel's Punisher on them and feature a distinctive blue colour.
Advert
They contain up to three to four times the usual dose of MDMA.
A spokesperson for US drug analysis lab drugsdata.org, which has been testing ecstasy pills around the world, previously told Vice it was 'stronger than any pill recorded on drugsdata.org'.
Last year, a pill tested by Manchester's Mandrake Project was found to contain 477mg of MDMA.
Typically, 125mg of MDMA is considered a high dose.
Advert
The project warned: "High dose will not increase effect but increases risk of death. If unwell seek medical attention."
Fiona Measham, chair of criminology at the University of Liverpool, has previously said a lot of users have no idea how strong the pills are, which can make them incredibly dangerous.
She said: "The customer doesn’t usually know the strength of ecstasy pills bought on illicit markets. So their life is in danger because of the absence of one simple fact: the MDMA content of the pill they bought.
Advert
"If a customer uses a drug checking service and finds out the strength of a pill is 477mg, then they can simply divide it into quarters and they have 4 average adult doses of MDMA, with no more risk than any other 120 mg pill.
"Knowledge is power, but lack of information on strength can transform a pill from benign to deadly."
The danger the pills pose has also been highlighted by the Mandrake Project (Manchester Drug Analysis and Knowledge Exchange), a research initiative developed by Manchester Metropolitan University and Greater Manchester Police to identify drug trends by testing non-evidential samples.
Drug samples are tested in a lab, and any dangerous trends are flagged to clubbers.
Advert
The drugs testing project is led by Dr Oliver Sutcliffe, who works alongside Warehouse Project boss Sacha Lord and GMP.
In recent months, the Mandrake Project announced it is developing a new device that will be able to detect the street drug known as 'spice'.
It is anticipated the new device will be able to help public health agencies to tackle spice and to help people may have taken the drug.
A prototype of the device was developed by researchers from the University of Bath, who are leading the project.