The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction keeps track of the substances that police find in arrests and pull out of drug busts as well as the mystery drugs that show up in the systems of emergency room patients around the world. When a new drug or substance pops up repeatedly, the European Monitoring Centre takes note – and it looks like a new version of Ecstasy and amphetamine PMMA in powder form is making its mark in Cork, Ireland.
What’s New About It?
While use of both Ecstasy and amphetamine PMMA has been well documented in almost every country around the world for decades, it’s the form that the combination of the two substances is taking that is new. Tablets combining amphetamine and Ecstasy have been reported for years, but a powder form – that’s the new part.
Michael Evans-Brown is a scientific analyst at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon. He says: “A powder containing MDMA and PMMA has not been reported to us. We have seen PMMA and MDMA in tablet form.”
What Happens When a New Substance Is Discovered?
When the European Monitoring Centre identifies a new substance, they operate an early warning system, getting the word out to EU Europol and national agencies around the world. There have not yet been reports of the drug in the United States, but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming.
The combo powder was brown and crystalline, according to reports. The color was unexpected because both MDMA and PMMA are white or off-white even when mixed with other stimulants.
Evans-Brown is a specialist in new drugs and says that PMMA is a “particularly harmful drug.” First identified in 2000, it was named as the cause of death in more than 20 fatalities and ultimately banned in the European Union in 2002. Until 2010, Evans-Brown says that the drug “virtually disappeared” – but now, it’s back and again taking lives in its new powdered form.
New Drugs, Old Drugs – All Are Deadly
Whether your drug of choice is a traditional street substance like heroin, a legal drug like prescription painkillers, or a new substance like synthetic marijuana or even PMMA, the risks are the same: chronic and acute health problems, overdose, accident and death. It’s not a risk worth taking. Call now to find out how we can help you stop abusing any illicit substances and start living a new drug-free life here at Michael’s House.
