Category: United Kingdom

Counterfeit Drugs a Danger in Scotland

Alternative Treatment, Education, United Kingdom

Counterfeit Drugs a Danger in Scotland The world of drugs—from an enforcement point of view as well as from a consumer’s—is complicated enough without the added wrinkle of fake drugs. Heroin and cocaine have always been adulterated; the profit motive that facilitates distribution guarantees that these drugs—in powder form—will be “stepped on” at every level between manufacture and consumption.

Fake ecstasy is now intruding on the Scots club scene, keeping authorities on their toes as they strive to keep up with the branding schemes that dealers come up with to persuade users that “this time it will be different” and that they will get the real deal. Ecstasy, rebranded (in the US) as Mollie after users finally soured on the possibility of acquiring a legitimate version of the product, is—or should  be—MDMA, a member of the amphetamine class of stimulants. In its pure version, it produces euphoria and a sense of intimacy with others (especially if they too are under its influence). It has been popular as a dance-club drug for several decades.

The fake ecstasy coming into Scotland is mainly manufactured in China, where criminal gangs have chemists in labs of varying levels of sophistication manufacture drugs—many of them legal—that they then blend in order to mimic the MDMA effect. One especially dangerous substitute is PMA, another drug in the amphetamine class.

There is some clinical indication that repeated use of even pure MDMA leads to increased rates of depression and anxiety. Chronic users may perform poorly in cognitive or memory tests. For chronic users, withdrawal symptoms include fatigue, concentration problems, and loss of appetite, as well as cravings for the drug.

There are no pharmaceutical treatments for ecstasy abuse, but treatment is available. As with any drug, the user has to come to a point, whether by self-realization or by intervention, at which he or she realizes that they can’t continue, can’t moderate, and can’t stop on their own. With this as a starting point, modern treatment methods can be successful.

A Deadly Game of One-Upmanship

Australia, United Kingdom

NekNomination- A Deadly Game of One-Upmanship

Drinking games go back as far as ancient Greece and China. The games usually fall into one of a number of categories:

  • Speed—how much alcohol can be consumed in a certain period of time (includes games such as beer bong, flippy cup, shotgunning, and boat races)
  • Endurance—simple competitions to out-drink other players. Sometimes the goal is to see who can remain standing the longest (boot of beer, power hour,  keg stand)
  • Skill—party and bar games that focus on an act of skill. In some games, the loser is required to drink a predetermined amount; in others, the winner (beer pong, beer darts, polish horseshoes, etc.)

There are also thinking games, cards, dice, and other competitions, all with alcohol involved.

All these can, as a group, range from the benign to the ridiculous. A friendly game of darts over beers can be innocent enough; competitive drinking for the sake of speed or volume can be dangerous, even lethal.

The latest and most alarming incarnation of the drinking game is Neknomination.

The point to this game is to chug beer or alcohol and video the event; then, the video is posted on social media and others are dared to outdo it and then post their performance, adding the same dare. This leads to a sort of networked, viral drinking competition where the only possible outcome is that one-upmanship drastically overrides common sense. In addition to just drinking, players have ramped up the competition by jumping off bridges, doing motorcycle stunts, and performing other risky acts.

Neknomination-related deaths have been reported in Australia, Ireland, and the UK.

One teen in Ireland died after drinking and jumping into a river, another after mixing white wine, vodka, whiskey, and beer. A ten-year-old boy in the UK became violently ill after participating in Neknomination.

This trend clearly requires a counterforce.

StopNekNomination

One Facebook community, called Ban-Neknomination, calls attention to the dangers—and victims—of the game.

Perhaps social media, the platform upon which Neknomination depends, will provide that counterforce by means of education and positive peer pressure.

Ketamine: Let’s Leave This Drug for Animals

United Kingdom

Ketamine: Let’s Leave This Drug for Animals Ketamine is a Class C banned substance in the UK that is to be reclassified as Class B, which will call for more serious penalties for users. It is a general anesthetic used to produce loss of consciousness during surgery. Because of its dissociative quality, it has a following among drug users and is especially popular in the rave and club scenes.

Its street name is “Special K” (or “Vitamin K”) and it is often adulterated with other drugs. At high doses, it can cause hallucinations and delirium.

The dangers of Ketamine include

  • Respiratory depression if combined with certain opioids, tranquilizers, or alcohol
  • User is rendered nonfunctional for duration of peak-high
  • It has been used as a date-rape drug, due to its capacity to render someone incapable of resisting
  • It has been reported to cause flashbacks, compromised learning ability, and problems with memory and attention
  • Tolerance can develop, which, combined with a craving for the high, is indicative of addictive properties, although it does not produce physical withdrawal symptoms after stopping use

Most Ketamine on the street today has been diverted from legitimate use in veterinary clinics. There are online advertisements for Ketamine by mail order, but the likelihood of its being pharmaceutical grade or even real is minimal.

Users have called Ketamine “stupidity in a vial.” The label on Ketamine vials has this revealing warning: “For use in cats and subhuman primates only.” Hopefully, the reclassification of this drug will reduce its availability and abuse.