Tuesday,
August 3, 1999
By
D. PARVAZ
SEATTLE
POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Ecstasy
users might think they know what they're getting, but chances are they're
wrong.
A
1996 study done on Ecstasy samples in various U.S. cities by the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies (www.maps.org) found that:
-
Only
14 percent of the samples contained 100 percent pure MDMA.
-
36
percent contained no MDMA.
-
77
percent of samples contained unidentified substances.
-
50
percent contained a mixture of unidentified substances with some MDMA (the
percentage of MDMA ranging from 16 to 85).
EZ-Test
is one way to test pills sold as Ecstasy. The kit is manufactured in the
Netherlands, the source of most Ecstasy smuggled here. Using a few drops
of a pre-mixed solution, the test determines whether a pill contains Ecstasy-like
chemicals, amphetamines or a drug called 2C-B.
Bill
Hayley of MindBodyLove, a harm reduction group, distributes EZ-Test. He
says he's concerned about the availability of drugs -- especially hard
drugs -- on the Internet.
"The
thing with Ecstasy is that it can be made in boot (clandestine) labs, and
you never know what you're going to get. A lot of people try to sell things
like PCP, ketamine, crystal forms of GHB."
Hayley
says the profits from selling the drug test kits also fund MindBodyLove's
efforts.
For
information on the EZ-Test kit, check
www.mdma.nl
Drugs
commonly sold as MDMA
-
MDA
-- methylenedioxyamphetamine; more hallucinogenic than empathic.
-
MDEA
-- methylenedioxyethylamphetamine; milder than MDMA.
-
MBDB
-- N-methyl-1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-butanamin; more euphoric than hallucinogenic.
-
2C-B
-- 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine; a hallucinogen.
-
MPTP
-- 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; very dangerous, can induce
Parkinson's-like symptoms.
-
DOB
-- 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine; a strong hallucinogenic drug, can
trigger psychotic episodes.
-
4-MTA
-- 4-methyl-thioamphetamine; often fatal, this drug can cause months of
severe depression.
-
Ephedrine
-- "Herbal Ecstasy;" a stimulant generally used as a bronchial inhalator
in asthma treatments.
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