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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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[IE] BZP replacing MDMA in ecstasy 'can cause liver and kidney damage'
#14396757 - 05/03/11 08:50 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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E ingredient 'can cause liver and kidney damage' May 3, 2011 - Irish Examiner
An ingredient found in ecstasy pills can cause serious liver and kidney damage, researchers say.
The compound, known as benzylpiperazine (BZP), is toxic to the body’s cells, according to the first study of its kind.
BZP has replaced MDMA as the main ingredient in ecstasy tablets, though it does not produce the same intense feeling of euphoria.
But in terms of toxicity, researchers found that BZP can cause serious damage to the body.
Scientists at Anglia Ruskin University analysed the most serious effects of BZP and other compounds in a class known as piperazines.
Cells derived from the liver and kidney were exposed to BZP at concentrations which reflected a dose for a user of the drug. Any significant changes, such as how the drug interfered with the natural process of cells dying off, were noted.
The results showed that BZP itself was toxic to the kidney and its starting material, piperazine hexahydrate, was toxic to the liver.
Professor Mike Cole, one of the researchers on the study, said: “Mixtures of drugs and impurities, synthesised to reflect street samples, produced a variety of toxic effects depending upon the composition of the mixture. But all were significantly toxic.
“The work is important because it begins to provide an explanation of why people who have taken these drugs exhibit the symptoms that they do in A&E rooms.
“It also shows that different batches of drugs will have different effects because of the different proportions of drug and impurity in the material, and that users are exposed to toxic mixtures of drugs for which both the short and longer-term effects will not be known and cannot easily be predicted.”
Prof Cole said the kind of damage a person may suffer would depend on the strength of the pill and their body’s reaction to it.
“It’s a mixed bag,” he said. “It would depend very much on the individual, and it would depend on how well the drug has been made or purified. But, potentially, a single pill can cause a lot of damage.”
Dr Beverley Vaughan, who also worked on the study, said it had not yet been established whether BZP was more dangerous than MDMA.
In terms of potency, BZP gives users less of a high than MDMA though it still damages cells.
Dr Vaughan said: “Beyond a certain threshold of concentration, the cells were no longer able to die in an orderly manner. It was chaotic and uncontrolled.”
BZP was sold as a “natural” product and a “legal or herbal high” until a few years ago, despite being entirely synthetic.
According to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, BZP can cause agitation, vomiting, abdominal pain and seizures. It also causes abnormal heart rhythm, colic, diarrhoea, allergic reactions and fever, and can lead to death in rare cases.
According to Dean Ames, from the Forensic Science Service, BZP has replaced MDMA as the main ingredient in ecstasy tablets.
“It’s a rare drug now, MDMA,” he said. “There are hundreds of thousands of tablets in circulation in the UK that look like ecstasy tablets but which actually contain piperazines.
“The tablets are still being sold as ecstasy and, because they have an effect, young people may think they are taking ecstasy.”
Sarah Graham, from drugs helpline Frank, said: “BZP is not safe. It is an entirely synthetic party drug which mimics the effects of ecstasy and speed. It is a stimulant which can raise your blood pressure and may lead to a fit or heart attack.
“You never know what you are getting because the chemical make-up continually changes and mixing the drug with alcohol can increase the risks.”
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Cyclohexylamine
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out



Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 14,327
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Re: [IE] BZP replacing MDMA in ecstasy 'can cause liver and kidney damage' [Re: veggie]
#14398394 - 05/04/11 05:35 AM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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all they have to do is stop the war on drugs regulate MDMA and guess what this problem will be GONE.
-------------------- Yes this is tymo - I just changed my name Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between that dream world and the real world? There is NOTHING better than feeling that warm dissociative fuzz creeping up your body from IM K Something abut that anaesthetic rush... Qualitative Research Chemical Effects and Experiences The Wonderful World of Methoxetamine The 3-Meo-PCP Chapters, Part One
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Atlantic Wind


Registered: 03/26/09
Posts: 1,066
Loc: Milwaukee, WI
Last seen: 2 months, 26 days
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Re: [IE] BZP replacing MDMA in ecstasy 'can cause liver and kidney damage' [Re: Cyclohexylamine]
#14398946 - 05/04/11 09:04 AM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Fuck that shit, you've gotta be seriously fucked up to put that crap in pills. I had to deal with the effects of it and it was just awful, just horrible headache and nausea the next day. I'll only be buying pure MDMA from now on.
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Valafar
Striking for the gentle



Registered: 02/20/10
Posts: 155
Loc: Vermont/Maine
Last seen: 10 years, 4 months
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Re: [IE] BZP replacing MDMA in ecstasy 'can cause liver and kidney damage' [Re: Cyclohexylamine]
#14399354 - 05/04/11 10:54 AM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
tymoteusz3 said:
all they have to do is stop the war on drugs regulate MDMA and guess what this problem will be GONE.
Exactly. If it was legal we could know what we are getting and it would be much safer, the only real dangerous thing about E is that you never know what its cut with unless you know who made it or you have a testing kit.
-------------------- "Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing"
Edited by Valafar (05/04/11 10:55 AM)
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