A TEENAGER who has dabbled in mephedrone today spoke out about the dangers of the drug as he backed The Press’s campaign to ban the “legal high”.

Dylan Massey-Ryan, 18, was introduced to mephedrone at a friend’s house – and said he was fully behind our attempt to rid our streets of its dangers.

“I’m usually quite capable of handling myself and I know when to say ‘no’.

“But I tried this powder, inhaled through my nose, sat down with a cup of water and just talked for hours to some of my friends.

“As the night passed on, I inhaled more and more of this and began to feel my heart beating heavily, having to focus on my breathing, thinking to myself ‘slowly, in through your nose, out through your mouth’.

“After I went upstairs to sleep, I woke up hours later and felt terrible and angry. Then, the next minute, I felt upset – near enough in tears. This causes violent mood swings.

“I saw my girlfriend a few hours later and I became uncharacteristically aggressive towards her. I didn’t hit her, but I clearly upset her. I broke down about how much I hated myself for doing mephedrone."

“My dad is clearly worried, I have been missing a lot of college and when I’m there I can’t concentrate and I can’t remember things that we have been discussing. This has put me in a very deep depression as I cannot write essays, stories or poems any more. The things I once loved have become alien to me.”

Dylan, who lives in Colchester but has followed our campaign online, said he had also struggled to remember things from college and was in a “very deep depression”.

He said he hoped the drug became illegal soon.

More than 150 people have now added their names to our petition.

• Are you worried about the increasing availability of ‘legal highs’ such as mephedrone, or have you been affected? Phone 01904 653051 ext 315 or email jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk