'Zombie' drug is top priority for Mansfield police inspector

Insp Nick Butler said in his blog that a key priority for the Mansfield force is reducing both street drinking in the town centre and smoking of the drug called ‘spice’ and one of its variants, mamba.

He said: “We started to receive complaints about street drinking, mamba users and offensive language. This behaviour was making some families feel uncomfortable and we knew we needed to act.

“Mamba is a synthetic form of cannabis which is incredibly dangerous and causes users to fall into what is often described as a ‘zombie-type’ state.”

He added that the drug was piling pressure on the NHS, as passersby usually call for an ambulance when they see users in such a state, and that arrests have been made.