Fiona Spargo-Mabbs lost her 16-year-old son Daniel after he died taking MDMA at a rave in London.
Now the mother warns other parents about drug producers, who she says are designing pills to appeal to children.
Fiona and husband Tim set up The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation in an attempt to save other families the pain of losing a child by making them aware of the risks of substance abuse.
Fiona highlighted the case of three 12-year-olds who were hospitalised after taking ecstasy called ‘teddy tablets’ as a prime example of how dealers are targeting young people with imagery and design.
Talking to Manchester Evening News, the mum said:
“These are ecstasy pills, no matter how they design them. They’ll make them in all kinds of colours and shapes, with images children will like, to appeal to them."
“It’s scary the number of similar cases we’re hearing about. That these girls were just 12-years-old is frightening.
“These drugs are more readily available than ever before, and they’re cheap. Ecstasy is no longer the expensive club drug as it was in the 1980s.
“We have to equip our children with the information and confidence to make independent decisions.
“They face such a difficult task navigating the world they find themselves in.
“These drugs are stronger than ever before and young people have little reliable information on the dangers.
“The way to tackle this is education an parents having open, frank conversations with their children about drugs.”
