THE family of a teenager who died at a Hampshire music festival today made a fresh warning of the devastating impacts of illegal drugs.

The parents of Ellie Rowe made the impassioned plea in the wake of politicians reclassifying the drug which claimed her life.

The 18-year-old died shortly after taking the banned substance ketamine at the Boomtown Fair Festival in Winchester in August 2013.

The drug - most commonly used as horse tranquiliser - is now being upgraded from to a Class B substance with tougher penalties for possession.

Ellie, from Glastonbury, Somerset, was volunteering as a steward for Oxfam at the festival when she snorted a line of ketamine powder after having drunk a few cans of Carlsberg lager.

The former British Army cadet of the year, who planned to go to university to become a lawyer, was pronounced dead at Royal Hampshire County Hospital later.

A Winchester inquest heard how friend Stephanie Peirce found her unconscious after taking the drug.

Pathologist Dr Adnan Al-Badri told the hearing that toxicology tests showed that Miss Rowe had 1.1 times the drink drive limit of alcohol in system and 2.14mg of ketamine per litre of blood in her system which was the second lowest recorded fatal dosage of the drug recorded.

Coroner Sarah Kirby recorded a narrative verdict, ruling Ellie died from alcohol and ketamine toxicity and central nervous system depression.

Now Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker is reclassifying the Class C drug following mounting evidence of its physical and psychological dangers.

Some long term users as young as 20 have had to have their bladders removed due to the impact it.

The maximum penalty for possession will rise from two to five years in jail, while dealing will stay at 14 years imprisonment.

Ellie's father Anthony Rowe, a self-employed businessman and caretaker, said: “"The main message is do not take any powder because you do not know what is in it.

"You do not know the strength of it, you do not know how your metabolism will act upon it, you run the risk of causing harm to your whole family which we feel with all our hearts."

Her mother Wendy Teasdill, 56, added: “"It is well-documented that alcohol and ketamine do not go well together but I feel that it should really be reinforced - if you take even a small amount of ketamine and a small amount of alcohol, you could die.

"Nothing will bring our beautiful daughter back, if anything positive is to come out of our daughter's death it might be the sombre reminder that looks, brains, fitness and sheer enthusiasm for human experience are no match for the toxic blend of alcohol and ketamine."

Police handed out leaflets at last year's event reminding festival-goers of the consequences of taking drugs and containing a heart-felt warning from her parents.

The reclassification follows recommendations from a report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in December 2013.

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