ANY Leigh teenager who goes near drugs after the ecstasy tragedy of Lorna Spinks is asking for trouble.

The normally bright 19-year-old died a horrible death after swallowing a £6 pill which was one-and-a-half times the normal strength.

It was part of her social scene, and she died 36 hours later, after being rushed to hospital when everything went topsy turvy.

Her brave parents allowed a horrifying picture of her bloated body to be taken just 10 minutes after her death, and it was spread over all the national papers, in the hope it would warn other teenagers of the dangers.

And if their action saves just one life, it will have been worth it.

The student was on a night out with pals when she took the pill.

Her temperature rocketed to 109 degrees F by the time she reached hospital and the drug had thinned her blood so much, she was bleeding internally and externally. It was like having water running through her veins.

She suffered an agonising death.

What a loss of a talented life by someone you'd have thought would have known better.

But that's easy to say. Drugs were rife in the '60s, but thankfully I was never tempted. Today, they seem to play an integral part in many more young lives. Goodness knows why.

It must be like playing Russian Roulette, handing over cash for drugs, ignorant of what will be handed back by unscrupulous dealers.

Youngsters seem so body and fitness conscious on the outside, yet they don't think of the awful damage that can be caused on the inside by popping just one little pill.