[size=+1]Prohibition fuels firestorm of new dangerous drugs[/size]
Thursday 10th November 2011, 12:40am
If moonshine was legalised, demand would be dulled
CHRIS SNOWDON
IN THE restless pursuit of pleasure, human beings will try almost any substance when circumstances require. During prohibition, Americans resorted to drinking toxic moonshine and inhaling ether. Second-rate substitutes and legal highs are seldom as pleasant as the real thing and are sometimes more dangerous, but at least you don’t have to worry about getting arrested.
The designer drugs that have swept Europe in the last two decades are the modern equivalent of moonshine, aided by the growth of the internet and the waning purity of ecstasy pills. Between 2003 and 2008, the MDMA content of ecstasy fell from 67 per cent to 33 per cent at a time when illicit chemists were synthesising dozens of new recreational substances. Ketamine, GHB, GBL, BZP and mephedrone all generated their own minor moral panics and were banned, only to be replaced by the likes of naphyrone, MDAI and Ivory Wave. More will follow. Twenty-four new legal highs were synthesised in 2009, with a further thirty-three appearing in 2010.
Although billed as “party drugs”, these chemicals often have little in common. Clubbers might use them interchangeably but mephedrone (Meow Meow) and BZP are stimulants, while GHB and ketamine are heavy sedatives. Different in nature and unpredictable in potency, users are vulnerable to overdose. Naphyrone (NRG-1) is active at just 20 milligrams while mephedrone is active at 200 milligrams. Since naphyrone was touted as “the new Meow Meow” when it appeared in 2010, users were liable to take ten times the “safe” dose. Some did.
Full article: http://www.cityam.com/forum/prohibition-fuels-firestorm-new-dangerous-drugs
Thursday 10th November 2011, 12:40am
If moonshine was legalised, demand would be dulled
CHRIS SNOWDON
IN THE restless pursuit of pleasure, human beings will try almost any substance when circumstances require. During prohibition, Americans resorted to drinking toxic moonshine and inhaling ether. Second-rate substitutes and legal highs are seldom as pleasant as the real thing and are sometimes more dangerous, but at least you don’t have to worry about getting arrested.
The designer drugs that have swept Europe in the last two decades are the modern equivalent of moonshine, aided by the growth of the internet and the waning purity of ecstasy pills. Between 2003 and 2008, the MDMA content of ecstasy fell from 67 per cent to 33 per cent at a time when illicit chemists were synthesising dozens of new recreational substances. Ketamine, GHB, GBL, BZP and mephedrone all generated their own minor moral panics and were banned, only to be replaced by the likes of naphyrone, MDAI and Ivory Wave. More will follow. Twenty-four new legal highs were synthesised in 2009, with a further thirty-three appearing in 2010.
Although billed as “party drugs”, these chemicals often have little in common. Clubbers might use them interchangeably but mephedrone (Meow Meow) and BZP are stimulants, while GHB and ketamine are heavy sedatives. Different in nature and unpredictable in potency, users are vulnerable to overdose. Naphyrone (NRG-1) is active at just 20 milligrams while mephedrone is active at 200 milligrams. Since naphyrone was touted as “the new Meow Meow” when it appeared in 2010, users were liable to take ten times the “safe” dose. Some did.
Full article: http://www.cityam.com/forum/prohibition-fuels-firestorm-new-dangerous-drugs
