A New Drug Called Monkey Dust Is Turning People Into Superhuman Zombies

Hallucinations, psychosis, involuntary body movements and Hulk-like strength.

Those are just some of the reported effects of monkey dust - a relatively new and dangerous drug linked to a range of crime and health problems.

The Class B drug, already banned in the US, could soon face tougher penalties in the UK, following reports some users have jumped off buildings or tried to eat glass.

Monkey dust is a synthetic - or manmade - cathinone. Cathinones are a naturally occurring stimulant drug found in the plant, khat.

It is also sometimes called Butylone M1, Magic Crystals, Mdpv, Methylone or Pyrovalerone and comes in a powder form, usually white, off-white, yellowish or brown and a hit can cost as little as £2, according to an MP.

Cathinones were originally sold over the internet as ‘legal’ alternative to drugs like speed, ecstasy and cocaine.

To avoid trouble with the police, sellers marked the cathinones they were selling as not for human consumption, and sold them as plant food or bath salts.

The government later banned the substance.