Cocktail of killer drugs at dance venues
By TANYA GILES and JOHN MASANAUSKAS
17jan01
DRUG cocktails disguised as the designer pill ecstasy are flooding dance venues and
putting Victorian lives at risk.
Police say ecstasy is now the drug of choice for ravers, but tablets often contain
dangerous drug combinations including LSD, heroin, cocaine, speed and caffeine.
Local illicit drug manufacturers are lacing tablets with harder drugs because of
problems obtaining the main ecstasy ingredient MDMA.
So-called ecstasy pills are also contaminated with horse tranquillisers, rat poison
and powdered glass, police say.
The lethal cocktails often induce bleeding in the lining of the stomach to get the
drug into the bloodstream faster.
Even in its purest form ecstasy is said to have played a part in the deaths of more
than a dozen people in Victoria - from heart attacks and brain haemorrhages. It has
also been linked to brain damage and psychological trauma.
Many users are buying special kits to test for the presence of MDMA, but police
warn the devices are unreliable and possibly illegal.
Chief Inspector Paul Ditchburn, of the Victoria Police drug and alcohol policy
co-ordination unit, said the kits were no substitute for proper laboratory analysis.
"We wouldn't like a kit like this to give a perception that will encourage drug taking,
because drug taking is simply not safe," he said.
In its pure form, ecstasy, which is usually taken at nightclubs and rave parties,
increases alertness, blood pressure and sweating.
Some users have died from overheating at dance parties or by drinking too much
water.
Over the New Year period, ambulance officers treated dozens of teenagers suffering
from bad ecstasy trips.
At one rave party, 12 teenagers were treated, including a girl who bit off part of
her tongue during an epileptic fit while on ecstasy.
State Coroner's Court statistics show that five people died from ecstasy-related
causes last year.
Three of the deaths were the result of a cocktail of drugs including ecstasy, heroin,
cocaine and other narcotics.
One shot himself while on an ecstasy high and another was murdered.
Victoria has become a major production centre of fake ecstasy, with police last
year seizing four pill presses operated by crime gangs.
More than 20 people have been arrested for trafficking in the past 18 months and
hundreds of thousands of tablets seized.
Authorities have estimated about 100,000, $50 ecstasy tablets are taken at rave
parties and nightclubs every weekend.
The pills are marketed for teenagers with trendy designs and names, including "blue
melody", "white Pokemon" and "purple ohm".
One industry source said buying "e" was not difficult.
"Buying e is like buying pizza. You have eat-in, take-away and home delivery," he
said.
Det. Sen-Sgt Wayne Strawhorn, of the drug squad, said ecstasy had become the
big growth market.
"You've got more chance of teenage kids getting involved with ecstasy than with
other drugs," he said. "The chances of having it offered are very high."
Australian Federal Police said international crime syndicates were also exploiting the
insatiable ecstasy demand.
AFP general manager (southern) Graham Ashton said while ecstasy was traditionally
manufactured in the Netherlands, crime gangs in the notorious Golden Triangle of
Asia were now mass producing the drug.
Authorities estimate 4.5 million ecstasy tablets are smuggled into Australia each
year.
Federal police and Customs have made big inroads in stemming the flow, with 176kg
of the drug detected last financial year.
The annual figure could double as police have already seized 171kg in the six
months to January.
The largest haul was 271,000 ecstasy tablets worth $13.5 million found hidden in a
container of French wine shipped to Sydney in December.
Victoria Police seized 50,000 tablets and arrested six people at Southbank in
November after a big surveillance operation.
Last month 100,000 tablets smuggled into Australia were found inside 10 computer
monitors airfreighted from Malaysia.
And more than 10,000 ecstasy tablets disguised as lollies were found in the luggage
of a passenger arriving at Perth airport in November.
Mr Ashton said Sydney was the clearing house for narcotics and they usually made
their way to Melbourne by road.
pretty outrageous.
