Particularly dangerous ecstasy pills are currently circulating in Belgium and worrying the authorities. These pink, triangle-shaped pills with the Superman logo on them contain an unusual dose of PMMA (para-methoxymethamphetamines). They have reportedly already resulted in the deaths of four people in the United Kingdom.
It was the Belgian Scientific Institute of Public Health (ISSP) which raised the alert in a communicated published this Friday, January 30. He explains that “the presence of these pills has already been observed in the Netherlands in December 2014 and in Spain, in Madrid. These pills have already been found in the UK as well, where they recently killed at least four people. “
The problem wouldn’t be as critical if this shape, logo, and pink color weren’t already present on another pill.ecstasy, less dangerous than PMMA. “There are virtually identical pills on the market, but they contain a high dose of the less toxic active substance MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), found in ‘normal’ ecstasy pills. It is therefore impossible to visually differentiate between PMMA and MDMA pills, ”reads the ISSP press release.
In addition to being lethal in high doses, the substance has a euphoric effect that does not activate until late after taking it, unlike MDMA. Careless consumers are therefore likely to believe that they have taken too low a dose, which will lead them to ingest several pills in a row. “Hours after ingesting these pills serious physical problems such as increased heart rate and very sharp rise in body temperature can occur. In many cases, these disorders can result in death, ”warns the ISSP.
In a column published on January 5 in the British daily The Guardian, Dr David Nutt, a former British ministerial adviser, accused the country’s government of having too strict a policy on synthetic drugs, which would be at the origin of the development of these much more dangerous substances.
“The reappearance of these products is directly due to attempts by the international community, through UN conventions, to stop the use of MDMA by banning its production and sale,” says Dr. David Nutt. “The emergence of PMMA follows the so-called success in reducing MDMA production. This is one of the many illustrations of the fact that the prohibition of drug leads to the development of a more dangerous alternative developed to ‘go over the wall’. “
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