The monkey dust drug ‘epidemic’ that has Stoke-on-Trent in its grip | ITV News

A drug known as monkey dust or MDPHP has been taken in Stoke-on-Trent since at least 2013. In 2016, there were concerns about its prevalence in the city after police released footage of people, believed to be under the influence of monkey dust, behaving in extreme ways. Experts described an “epidemic” in the city and the media labelled Stoke as the monkey dust capital of the UK. Now, a decade after it was first recognised, drugs suspected to be “dust,” seized by Staffordshire Police, will finally be tested to understand why Stoke-on-Trent seems to have such a problem with monkey dust. • Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: • Get breaking news and more stories at Follow ITV News on Facebook: Follow ITV News on Twitter: Follow ITV News on Instagram: