Hamilton school pills found not to be Ecstasy but a Class C drug, mother charged

A mother and daughter at the centre of a Hamilton Police investigation into how a group of secondary school students came to need hospital treatment after taking pills have been charged and referred to Youth Aid respectively.

Hamilton City Area Commander, Inspector Rob Lindsay, said analysis by ESR found the small, round, pink pills with a bird stamped on them were not made up of the Class B drug Ecstasy but were found to be comprised of the Class C drug BZP and other controlled substances.

"As a result of this and other information a 38-year-old woman has been charged with possession of a Class C controlled drug and her daughter, who is alleged to have taken the pills to school, has been referred to Youth Aid.

"Our investigation is ongoing and it is likely there will be more referrals to Youth Aid. What this incident has shown us is that a percentage of young people are vulnerable from making wrong decisions and there are consequences from those decisions."

Mr Lindsay said Police had been working with a number of agencies in relation to the matter including the school, the Ministry of Education and Child Youth and Family and the outcome of any Youth Aid referrals was not all about punishment.

"An objective of the referrals is to ensure the appropriate support services are made available to the young people concerned and that this support is ongoing, to do this we will be working with the teenagers and their families to achieve this."

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