UPDATE: Two students remain in hospital after taking 'psychoactive substance'

Lancashire Police were called at around 6.30pm on Wednesday (May 20) to reports that five 19-year-old male students were suffering adverse effects after taking the substance, which appears to have been a synthetic cannabis substitute - sometimes referred to as 'legal highs'.

The five men were admitted to Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

Three of the students were discharged yesterday (May 21) and two remain in hospital for observations but their condition is stable.

The university urged all students to check on friends and to call for an ambulance if any were ill in a message on its Twitter account just after 9pm on Wednesday.

On Wednesday the university said the drug taken was believed to be called Spice which is a synthetic marijuana and carries side effects including psychotic episodes, paranoia, increased anxiety and hallucinations.

It was classified alongside cannabis as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in December 2009.

In a joint statement from organisations including Lancashire Police and Lancaster University, it said: "Full forensic tests will now be carried out to try to establish exactly what the substance was, at this stage we cannot confirm whether any criminal offences which have been committed.

"Many chemicals found in synthetic cannabinoids are illegal and there is no way to know what these drugs contain when purchased, or how dangerous they can be."

Supt Peter Lawson said: “All our enquiries lead us to believe that this was an isolated incident confined to these five individuals and that no others are involved or have been affected.

“Thankfully these young men do not appear to have suffered any long-lasting effects but they were very ill and the outcome could have been very different.

"Our advice on new psychoactive substance remains that people should not take them as they will simply have no idea what they could contain.”

Student Anna Guo, 20, said: "Whe I first found out I was like: 'Oh my God.' It was very surprising. People smoke drugs all the time but to get hospitalised by it is very surprising. I hope they are all OK.

"It shows how easy it is to get drugs if they put them online."

— Lancaster University (@LancasterUni) May 20, 2015

A university communications officer sent an email to students which read: "Five students are in hospital, 2 of them critically ill following a suspected overdose of a drug called Spice.

"It is extremely important if you have taken  the drug to call 999  immediately and call for an ambulance. Please also  check on anyone you think may have taken it."

According to Scan, Lancaster University’s student paper, the five students were taken to hospital after ambulances were called to student halls between 6pm and 7pm.

The University has more than 12,000 students and is considered one of the best in Britain.