Pubdate: Sun, 20 Nov 2011
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2011 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Authors: Joanne Carroll and Russell Blackstock
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

DRUG USERS RELIEVED AFTER 'DANGEROUS' PILLS REMOVED

Drug users have welcomed a massive Ecstasy bust, saying the pills on 
the streets were dangerous.

In a press conference this week, police displayed bags of thousands 
of pills which are known on the street as red rockets, yellow 
rockets, blue choppers, green rolling stones and pink lips.

Officer in charge of the 12-month Operation Ark, Detective Inspector 
Bruce Good, said the "sophisticated" syndicate was producing red 
rockets that caused users to suffer seizures and hallucinations.

Good said some of the pills were being produced at a factory which 
also manufactured rat poison.

It was estimated the syndicate was responsible for producing between 
80 and 90 per cent of the country's Ecstasy over several years.

Users on the forum tripme.co.nz said the pills did not appear to 
contain MDMA - the main ingredient in Ecstasy - but chemicals from a 
family of hallucinogenics called 2C.

"Them bs pressing 2CX into street pills is what doomed everything.

"We were living a pill-friendly, take-it-or-leave-it type of country 
for quite a while before people ended up in hospitals, tripping 
balls, wondering why they aren't feeling strimmed or chatty," one wrote.

University of Otago student Andy told the Herald on Sunday the seized 
pills were a hallucinogenic or "trippy" type, different from 
traditional Ecstasy.

He said they cost $60 each in Dunedin. "I started uni in 2009 and 
they were around then, but seem to have become more available over 
the three years spent here," he said.

The new pills were more similar to LSD. "They start by altering your 
visual perceptions, making things look strange, such as patterns 
starting to move," he said.

"However, other effects start in which can be very intense. Social 
situations can suddenly become scary and the user may start talking 
gibberish, situations become confusing and they may become scared 
because they cannot control themselves tripping out."

He found the experience terrifying. "Things slowly come back to being 
manageable about four or five hours after tripping, and sleep is 
difficult until the next night," he said.

Drug experts warn the bust could spark a price rise and more-toxic 
pills flooding the streets.

Ross Bell, executive director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, 
said there could be "a lot of opportunists trying to cash in on what 
they might see as a big gap in the market". Massey University drug 
researcher Dr Chris Wilkins said Ecstasy users might pay more for 
their pills in the future.

"When supply becomes tight there are usually two ways in which 
dealers respond. The price goes up and they start cutting their 
products with other stuff, so the potency and quality goes down," he said.

"But the recent arrests could prove to be a circuit-breaker in the 
supply of Ecstasy and some users may take the opportunity to give it up."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom