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 motaman
old hand
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 5,813
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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 Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail 
#11647659 - 12/14/09 11:15 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail
By MICHAEL FOX - Stuff.co.nz
Last updated 05:00 14/12/2009
Ecstasy users are unwittingly taking other potentially more dangerous substances including P, as drug dealers become more reckless, officials warn.
The trend is increasing the chance of accidental overdose and causing concerns for law enforcement and health authorities.
Testing of what was believed to be ecstasy (MDMA) tablets by Environmental Science and Research, revealed a cocktail of other substances, including P (methamphetamine), BZP and mephedrone – linked to the death of a British 14-year-old girl last month.
The tests were carried out on a number of illicit pills this year with results showing the majority contained BZP – the main ingredient in party pills made illegal in April 2008 – and mephedrone, a new substance in New Zealand similar to ecstasy.
ESR forensics general manager Keith Bedford said the results showed there was a "blurring of the boundaries" between different drugs, as traditional markings on pills became less reliable.
"The risk is much broader and there are quite unusual and new substances appearing [with] minimal information about their toxicity or long-term risks."
A United Nations report on drug trends in East and South East Asia, issued last month, showed ecstasy was now New Zealand's most popular drug, behind cannabis. It showed 25,806 tablets seized in 2008 compared with 4123 the year before.
National Drug Intelligence Bureau coordinator Detective Inspector Stuart Mills said the trend of mixing substances was among the police agency's main concerns.
"We are aware that tablets that are being sold as MDMA or ecstasy tablets don't actually contain ecstasy, or only a very small amount, or they may contain other ingredients such as BZP or other types of drugs," he said.
The rise of new and untested substances also created difficulties in judging potential effects, particularly toxicity and the level of risk the drugs pose, Dr Bedford said.
According to the New Zealand Drug Foundation, ecstasy use is on the rise in New Zealand. The UN drug study found around 8 per cent of the population age 15 to 45 had used the drug.
Wellington Hospital emergency physician and drug expert Paul Quigley said P was being sold as ecstasy as it had wider appeal as a party drug and could usually be sold for more.
"You can show people a pill and they'll go, 'Oh, it's ecstasy', and it's not. It could be anything. It could be ketamine, it could be milk powder, it could be Ajax.
"There is no such thing as the Consumer Guarantees Act for buying pills off some bloke in a leather jacket in an alleyway."
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He said when authorities carried out a drugs bust it did not deter manufacturers. "They just start making any old rubbish, whatever they've got surplus of, press it into a nice tablet, add some food colouring and put a symbol on it and everyone thinks it's 'E'."
Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said people now appeared to be more inclined towards stimulants, rather than relaxing drugs such as cannabis.
Mr Bell called on police to make substance information available to potential drug users in a "discrete manner" such as advertising in nightclub toilets and educating bar managers.
THE MYTH OF ECSTASY
According to Dr Quigley, pure ecstasy is a myth.
When it burst on to the scene in the 1970s it was pure MDMA and its reputation as an uncomplicated party drug exploded. However, once MDMA was made illegal in the late 1970s, ecstasy's make-up changed.
The legend of the "round shiny tablet with a logo on it" had grown out of proportion.
"It's an image," he said.
Ingredients such as Ajax, a cleaning product, and paracetomol have been used in order to help press the powder into pills.
Dr Quigley said P being sold as ecstasy is not new to medical professionals - it has a wider appeal as a party drug and could be sold for more.
It also opens up a new market - affluent professionals rather than P addicts - and is used as a gateway drug, with dealers then encouraging regular customers to try other drugs.
Dr Quigley said methamphetamine use appeared to be decreasing as a result of concerted police efforts and bad press, but along with increased ecstasy use was also being replaced by hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD.
"If you go on a bad LSD trip it's not at all good. They're really, truly frightening," he said.
Along with LSD, new designer drugs such as mephedrone were appearing, which health experts had little or no knowledge about.
Home-based chemistry labs were being used to make new drugs such as synthetic cannabis and capsicum-based hallucinogens, Dr Quigley said.
This was concerning as party drugs had generally been developed in the first instance to target specific health problems, he said.
Viagra, for example was originally developed to treat angina but it eventually became used to treat erectile dysfunction. BZP was experimented with as a way to treat depression and vets trialled it to treat worms in animals.
Health authorities therefore had data and information about the drugs and there intended or unintended effects.
As people developed drugs specifically for recreational use there was no laboratory analysis and "that's caught everyone by surprise", he said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3155970/Ecstasy-pills-reveal-alarming-cocktail
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 BlindSophist
you can call me BS
Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 28,168
Loc: SF Bay Area
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Re: Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail [Re: motaman]
#11648945 - 12/14/09 03:45 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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I'm glad this very serious problem is getting some wider recognition. If any responsible adult went to one of the parties these kids are having on these "ecstasy" cocktails their faces would go blue. These colorful, lively, interesting, collectible pills cause very noticeable, irreversible brain damage which should not be attributed to MDMA. I swear to God it's like Pokemon From Hell.
Edited by Tchan909 (12/14/09 04:08 PM)
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nooneman
Stranger
Registered: 04/25/09
Posts: 5,734
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Re: Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail [Re: BlindSophist]
#11649283 - 12/14/09 04:40 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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At first I wanted to say "How is this news?" but then I realized a lot of people probably don't know this 
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BlindSophist
you can call me BS
Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 28,168
Loc: SF Bay Area
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Re: Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail [Re: nooneman]
#11649318 - 12/14/09 04:45 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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This is common knowledge among appreciators of MDMA, but not really anywhere else.
Kids come home, their parents see them out of their fucking minds (because it's REALLY not pretty) on a hint of MDMA along with crank and BZP and Lord only knows what else, parents hear they took "ecstasy" or MDMA, and our lovely friend Molly has mud and spit and blood on her face. How else would it still be Schedule I?
...Never mind.
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smokescreen
80's Transformer
Registered: 08/13/09
Posts: 808
Loc: north carolina
Last seen: 3 months, 17 days
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Re: Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail [Re: BlindSophist]
#11649787 - 12/14/09 06:09 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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"You can show people a pill and they'll go, 'Oh, it's ecstasy', and it's not. It could be anything. It could be ketamine, it could be milk powder, it could be Ajax.
While this is true, ajax? Why ajax? why not mini-thin or caffeine? Are the makers of these pills that fucking CHEAP that they would risk KILLING THEIR CUSTOMERS? Oh, yah that's right, they don't care cause the makers never meet the takers... What a shame. Still though, it's bad for business overall and can kill a particular "stamp"s reputation. Anyone herd of green alien X pills? In my day and area they were the best. Im not a big X user, but if I saw one of these I'd be excited, but if 20 kids got really sick or died from these and it made news.... well -- Id change my mind. (every batch is different) In the (10 year ago) past, brands were conserved 'cause people would buy them up like candy. NO ONE AROUND HERE WANTS "white suns" They turned out to be caffeine and ephedrine.
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 "Let's get together and feel alright"   
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BlindSophist
you can call me BS
Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 28,168
Loc: SF Bay Area
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Re: Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail [Re: smokescreen]
#11652023 - 12/14/09 11:52 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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I doubt any pressing has been circulated that contains ajax, but it's an analogy meant to show that you have no reliable way of knowing just what you are taking when you swallow one of those tabs. And trust me, enough people can't tell the difference between pure molly and 4/5 meth with 1/5 molly (or any other even more toxic but equally rush-inducing cocktail) that such pills are highly profitable for the unscrupulous dealer trying to make a quick buck at the expense of some naive kid's neurons.
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RecursivePhi
Exploring Shpongleland
Registered: 08/27/09
Posts: 220
Loc: Around
Last seen: 4 months, 25 days
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Re: Ecstasy pills reveal alarming cocktail [Re: BlindSophist]
#11657256 - 12/15/09 07:47 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Old news for many I'm sure, but it's really sad how much MDMA is getting left out of these rolls, I think it was PillReports that said over half they've tested have been pipes... 
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