In August this year, the Office for National Statistics released figures on drug-related deaths in 2012. Although the total number of deaths from drug poisoning were roughly equivalent to previous years (2,597 in 2012 compared to 2,652, 2,747 and 2,878 the previous 3 years - mostly deaths from heroin, morphine, methadone or antidepressants), there was one particularly worrying finding.
Deaths attributed, on the death certificate, to PMA had gone from 1, 0 and 0 in preceding years, to 20 last year. And there have already been a number of reports of deaths from this drug in 2013.
However, PMA isn't a drug you're particularly likely to be offered in a club. At least, not by that name. PMA, para-methoxyamphetamine, is likely being sold as MDMA or ecstasy, leading to people unwittingly taking it, thinking it's ecstasy.
This is dangerous for a number of reasons. PMA in low doses can have a superficially similar effect to MDMA. But it is more toxic than MDMA, meaning you need to take less of it to have an adverse reaction to it. It also takes longer to have an effect than MDMA does. It's clear to see why this is a dangerous combination.
Seasoned ecstasy users, used to the effects of MDMA, will know how long a pill usually takes to have an effect. Their pill, even if bought from someone they trust, could be cut with any number of things which might make it less potent, so when a 'usual' reaction hasn't occurred after a typical time, the user might assume the batch is weak and take more. If it's actually PMA, this can be very dangerous.
It's unusual for people to reach toxicity when taking MDMA. Deaths related to MDMA are most commonly from heatstroke, drinking too much fluid, or heart failure. But PMA is toxic at a much lower dose than MDMA. Not only that, but what's known as the dose-response curve is very steep. This means that consuming only slightly more than the amount needed to achieve the high a user wants can be enough to elicit the toxic effects, making accidentally overdosing easy to do. These toxic effects can include a rapid rise in body temperature, increased heart rate and raised blood pressure. Some users have reported delirium, and even seizures.
PMA is sold as a street drug in its own right, as well as being mis-sold as ecstasy. While it is a more dangerous drug to take than MDMA due to its potency and the ease with which overdosing is possible, if a user believes that is what they have taken, they can choose a dose accordingly, and know that there will be a longer lag between consumption and intoxication. It is the mis-labelling as MDMA which makes this already risky drug even more potentially dangerous.
When I spoke to some users, most said they did not want to try it. One woman told me she bought a pill she was told was MDMA, but has not taken it because she is worried it's actually PMA. A friend of hers bought a pill he believed was MDMA at the same time described by the seller as 'strong', and had vivid hallucinations and lost control of his bladder while intoxicated. The woman I spoke to is considering buying a kit to test her pill before taking it, but self-test kits are not always accurate.
A website called Bluelight has used a variety of the self-test kits and found some can be 'fooled' if the drug tested is a mix of MDMA and PMA.
Another person told me he would not be averse to trying it, but only if he knew what it was, and not while there were other options more easily available.
