Someone has plastered posters advertising ‘authorised drug zones’ all over Manchester city centre

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The fake posters promoting crack and heroin zones.

The fake posters promoting crack and heroin zones. Credit: Supplied

Posters promoting ‘authorised’ drug use and sales have appeared all over Manchester today.

The posters even include Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council logos – though, obviously, without the consent of either authority.

The fake posters have also been springing up in other cities, with locals in Leeds spotting them all over the place yesterday.

They read: “Crack and heroin zone. The sale and use of Crack and Heroin is authorised in this area.”

The fake posters have been spotted outside the Central Library and in the Northern Quarter, as well as at locations in other parts of the city.

They were quickly removed by authorities, who say they were posted illegally.

West Yorkshire Police said yesterday: “We are aware of fake posters that have been illegally posted at locations in and around Leeds city centre and are making further enquiries.”

Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council have also been approached for comment.

Manchester mayoral candidate Nick Buckey wrote on X: “The lack of action to the drug epidemic in Greater Manchester is so huge that people thought these posters were legitimate.

“When jokes seems like reality then we know we have a problem.”

It appears that the group behind the drug posters project is Pattern Up, a ‘young artist collective from Brighton making their mark on the streets with provocative and witty installations’.

Plenty of people seem to have fallen for the stunt, believing it’s real, with one person posting on Instagram: “Can’t find anything online so surely fake news unless someone has a source.”

Another wrote: “Hahaha f*ck off this can’t be legit.”

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