The Cambridgeshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) have issued a “red alert”, after two individuals “collapsed immediately after smoking a synthetic cannabinoid” in Cambridge, around 1:30 p.m. today.

The individuals who collapsed are described as being “very unwell” and are both receiving treatment at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. One is said to have been “unconscious and unresponsive.” It is unknown whether or not they are students.

The alert, colour-coded so as to indicate the need for “urgent action to prevent confirmed risk of death”, instructs people to call emergency services for an ambulance immediately “if they are feeling unwell and suspect they have used” the substance to which the alert pertains.

Not much is currently known about the substance in question, other than that it was a synthetic cannabinoid – an imitation of cannabis – and that “it was a ‘spice’ product.”

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), this type of product is typical of cannabinoids that “were detected in herbal smoking mixtures or so-called incense/room odourisers” in 2008.

The EMCDDA’s profile goes on to say that these product “do not contain tobacco or cannabis but when smoked, produce effects similar to those of cannabis.”

In May last year, five students from Lancaster University were hospitalised in a critical condition after using the substance.

Those with further queries are encouraged to contact Cambridgeshire DAAT on 01223 699680.