Related Content 1
McDeadly Ecstasy pills on the scene
Deadly ecstasy pills sporting the Golden Arches MacDonald’s logo have been seized in Scotland, all containing para-methoxy-amphetamine (PMA) – a strong psychedelic and killer ecstasy substitute.
The price of ecstasy pills is on the rise and there is increasing belief that the quantity of MDMA in pills is increasing, but this deadly seizure reminds us that pills vary widely in composition – and there are pills out there you do not want to try.
If only ecstasy pills were as consistent as a Big Mac!
PMA closely related to PMMA, has been connected to a number of deaths over the last decade in Canada, the US, Europe and Australia. While PMA was initially thought to be a by-product created in the production of MDMA, this is unlikely given the different precursors that each requires for their production.
A delayed onset of effect (often more than 2 hours) can lead to inadvertent overdosing – thinking ‘these pills are crap, better take another one of two and see if we get something’. However it can lead to muscle spasms, burred vision, overheating (hyperthermia), and increases in pulse and blood pressure.
Nausea and vomiting can lead to loss of potassium leading to hypokalemia (low potassium levels) which combined with hyperthermia can lead to irregular heart rhythms, seizures and death – see more on taking new pills here.
So if someone offers you a pill with the Macca’s logo on it – believe use you won’t be ‘lovin it’.
Spliff Styles- How do you roll? by Will Coldwell
If there’s one thing about smoking cannabis that is guaranteed not come with unwanted side effects, then it has to be rolling. Satisfying, engaging and much more creative than ordering a 50/50 pizza instead of a margherita or the inevitable all day cartoon-fest, the art of rolling has almost as much potential to get someone hooked as the drug itself.
Interestingly, smokers from around the world seem to adopt different styles of rolling. While spending time working for Time Out Amsterdam, engaging in the privileged task of writing Coffee shop reviews courtesy of the expense account, I had a chance to observe these various techniques, as demonstrated by pot-smoking tourists burning time in the ‘global-village’. I wouldn’t like to comment on what it says about the various cultural identities, but it’s interesting all the same.
The Dutch
Lets start with the Dutch style, well planned, serious, and big. Using the whole roach card to make a sturdy filter, notable for the folded Z-shape in the middle, these spliffs are chunky and coned. They are also filled with twice as much weed as you need, mixed with cigarette tobacco to help it burn longer.
Any pre-rolled joint you will find in a Dutch coffeeshop is rolled like this and if you do get lucky and spot a Dutch person actually in one, then you’ll find them rolling theirs the very same way. You could say it’s a design classic.
Read more
Ketamine & the bladder- by Dr. Angela Cottrell
It has only been apparent in recent years that the recreational use of ketamine can lead to problems with the urinary tract. Reports first emerged in 2007 from Canada and Hong Kong that the use of ketamine can lead to symptoms such as needing to pass urine frequently, passing blood, burning when passing urine, incontinence and bladder pain.
Up to a quarter of users may experience such problems and it appears that this is related to both the quantity used and the duration that it is taken for. Read more
Anything is possible on the Silk Road- by Monica Barratt
Much of the research and discussion about drugs and the internet has focused upon either buying drugs online or seeking drug-related information online. News coverage has particularly focused upon the capacity to buy drugs from web vendors (eg, Psychedelic drugs just a click away online, Deadly drug on the net).Yet, evidence from the last decade indicates that most drug transactions still occur in the traditional way.
Popular illegal drugs are not generally available online: unless the product can be marketed as ‘legal’ or ‘not for human consumption’, the legal risk and practical problems associated with selling heroin, MDMA, amphetamines, and cannabis through an online marketplace are just too big, for both buyers and sellers.
Yet, evidence from the last decade indicates that most drug transactions still occur in the traditional way.
MDMA Quality – Up or Down ?
Last years Mixmag’s result’s indicated that the perceived quality of MDMA has gone down. According to the infographic below the quality of pills and powder has improved.
According to Dr. John Ramsey, a UK toxicologist “MDMA is back in tablets. Analysis of drugs seized from this year’s music festivals has shown that “ecstasy” tablets are now much more likely to contain MDMA than the strange mixtures of piperazines (BZP, TFMPP, CPP) that have been common for the past couple of years. A sample of about twenty tablets of various designs were analysed and contained 52 – 115mg MDMA (as free base) with the majority around 100mg per tablet.
Quite pure crystal MDMA is still commonplace but for the first time we encountered sucrose (sugar) crystals in wraps in amnesty bins presumably to be passed off as MDMA. They are very convincing and require analysis to differentiate the two”.
Ecstasy/PMMA Warning- Crew 2000
In July of this year our good friends at CREW 2000 warned about strong batches of Ecstasy and Ecstasy containing PMMA. We at Global Drug Survey thought their info and advice was excellent and so we have republished it for you to read.
Reportedly strong batches and varieties of ecstasy around on the scene, so any users determined to use ecstasy should take care with dosing so as to stay safe.
Not wishing to add to any media sensationalism, there have been various recent user reports of people taking multiple quantities of tablets and experiencing difficulties. In Crew’s experience this has been true where people have taken too much and/or have mixed with other substances such as alcohol. Read more
Dangerous, Manageable or Hardcore?- by Monica Barratt
The unfortunate death of a 20-year-old Sydeny woman in 2007 provided a catalyst for an analysis of how online drug-using communities defined PMA and ecstasy. PMA or para-methoxyamphetamine is structurally similar to the phenylethylamines (MDxx) and mescaline. It is a hallucinogenic stimulant with a low threshold for overdose, making it definitively more dangerous than pure MDMA. Most, but not all, use of PMA is inadvertent, as the users believe they are consuming an MD derivative when they buy pills sold as ‘ecstasy’, but the pill actually contains PMA.
Annabel Catt’s death in 2007 followed her ingestion of ‘ecstasy caps’ which were later found to contain PMA. Her friends did call an ambulance but Annabel died later in hospital due to overheating and respiratory failure. Read more
Welcome to the K-hole
Ketamine isn’t just for animals — it has been given to humans for over 40 years.It has a very good safety record when used as an anesthetic and pain killer in clinical settings, however over the last 20 years ketamine has left the operating theatres and vetinary surgeries to become an international party drug. It has spread through diverse cultures and populations from London and Read more