A Scottish woman, who lost her husband to liquid ecstasy a year ago, has launched an appeal to urge Maltese partygoers to stay away from the illegal drug on which two people overdosed last week.

Elaine McKeating, 31, recounted how she watched her “best friend and soul mate”, Andrew, die before her eyes after he bought the drug off the internet as “alloy wheel cleaner”. He wanted to try it before it was banned in the UK last December.

“When I asked about it, he said it was Liquid X. He bought it because there had been a lot of coverage in the news about it and it was supposed to give you a fantastic buzz.”

It cost £30, which annoyed his wife because they were not well off. However, she did not think much of it because they both used to dabble in recreational drugs when they were younger.

Mr McKeating tried the drug at home, pouring some two milli-litres into his pint of beer after a long day of work.

“After drinking it he said it had an awful taste... I just laughed at him, saying he was silly taking anything like that.”

He then had a shower, went back to the living room and complained it did not have any effect.

On closer reading of the bottle’s leaflet, he realised he had taken the wrong dose and measured another 20 millilitres, drinking it without mixing it.

“About five or 10 minutes later, while sitting at the dining room table, I noticed he was acting extremely odd. He wasn’t moving... looked strange... and was patting the cat on his lap in a robotic manner. I ran over to him and asked if he was OK. He looked at me and I realised it was serious... he managed to slur a sentence, which was incoherent and then tried to give me the thumbs up as though everything was OK. He then started to breathe extremely heavy and laboured and his jaws were clenched and his face was very red.”

At that point, Mrs McKeating panicked and ran to her next door neighbour for help.

Her husband had a seizure, frothing at the mouth and shaking with his eyes closed.

With her neighbour’s help, she pulled off his T-shirt and tried to give him some water but he began to vomit blood. When an ambulance arrived blood was coming out of his nose and mouth and he had turned blue.

“I never thought my husband would die. I assumed I would be visiting him in hospital the next day and telling him off for being so stupid,” she said.

His autopsy revealed that Mr McKeating, who never had any other medical conditions, died directly because of the drug.

An Italian man was last week given a suspended jail term after he and a friend were found unconscious in a night club in San Ġwann.

The 36-year-old Italian admitted to consuming the sub-stance at the club and said he bought it from Germany, where he lives, for his own use and simply shared it with his friend, who was still recovering in hospital.

The drug, gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), became very popular in the 1990s as a legal high and was reportedly used as a rape drug even though it originally gained popularity among bodybuilders for its hormone-growth effects.

The drug is said to arouse users, offering potentially incapacitating effects often followed by amnesia.

Sources said it was also detected sometime last year in Malta but otherwise it was very uncommon.

Liquid ecstacy

• Odourless liquid with a salty taste sold in small bottles.
• A teaspoon is a normal does but the strength varies.
• Effects of 10 minutes to one hour and can last seven hours.
• Can cause unconsciousness, coma and death.
• Even experienced users are at risk from death by intoxication.
• Taking it with alcohol or other sedatives may add to risk of harm.
• Since it can knock you out it has been linked to date rape.

Source: www.talktofrank.com