Two men are recovering well after they overdosed on illicit drugs and were found unconscious outside at the University of Canberra, but have prompted a police warning about a bad batch of pills that could be circulating the capital.
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Ambulance officers were called to the university at about 11am on Thursday and drove the men, both from Canberra, to Calvary Hospital in a critical condition after students discovered them unconscious in an alcove outside the door of a student accommodation building.
Their condition has since been upgraded to satisfactory, and is continuing to improve, with their release from hospital expected within days.
The incident has prompted police to warn a bad batch of pills was being sold in the ACT.
Detective Sergeant John Giles said he believed the men intended to take ecstacy but it was likely the substance was a derivative of ketamine, a tranquiliser.
He said police thought the two men had bought the drugs at a well-known Canberra nightclub.
''We've got some great concern for other people being similarly affected, or possibly worse affected, by sourcing a substance that they think is harmless,'' he said. The men remained in a critical condition on Thursday.
Sergeant Giles said he was concerned the drug, which came in a clear capsule containing a white powder with a flour-like consistency, was still circulating in Canberra, particularly in nightclubs.
''Clearly I think it's been demonstrated that it's a bad batch, and it is a very, very dangerous substance,'' he said.
Police said the men had been lying outside the student accommodation for a number of hours before they were eventually found, but they were not University of Canberra students and did not live on campus. A student who lives in the residential block where the men were discovered said the men were ''friends of friends''.
They had been partying with students at a nightclub on Wednesday night.
ACT Health intensive care specialist Dr Simon Robertson said people who overdosed on ketamine derivatives may experience an altered level of consciousness, changes to the size and shape of their pupils, agitation, seizures and then becoming progressively more unconscious.
He said they could also experience a racing heart, high blood pressure and shallow and rapid breathing.
Police asked anyone who knew anything about this incident, or any type of illicit drugs in Canberra, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.act.crimestoppers.com.au.
with Hamish Boland-Rudder
