Pubdate: Nov 14-15, 1998 Source: Le Fiagro (France) Section: "Notre Vie" Website: http://www.lefigaro.fr/ Copyright: Le Figaro 1998 Author: Christophe Dore Translation: Boris Ryser & Peter Webster (from French) THE CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF ECSTASY Synthetic "recreational" illegal drugs invade European capitals. Paris: 100 francs. London: 8 Pounds Sterling. Madrid: 2,000 pesetas:.. With such low prices in these European capitals, anybody can buy a pill of ecstasy. Five to six times less expensive than a gram of cocaine, this hallucinogenic amphetamine symbolizes the new age of the so-called "recreational" drugs. In just a few years ecstasy has become the absolute leader of the new synthetic illegal drugs. Its production could radically change the situation of the traffic in narcotics. Anti-narcotics forces find themselves faced with a surprising situation: the drugs are manufactured in Europe (Netherlands and other nothern countries) for an international distribution, including Asia, the land of opium: A reversal of tradition, it would seem. Medical consequences "The number of seizures of the synthetic drugs has exploded and this trend is not over," confirms Gilles Leclair, the boss of the Central Office for repression of traffic in illegal drugs. On October 28, 400,000 doses were seized in an English-registered truck near Dunkerque. In February, 358,000 doses were intercepted in Calais. [the north of France, a major seaport]. In France, for the year 1998, seizures surpassed the total of those between 1993 and 1997. The medical consequences on long term consumers are still being studied. At the end October, an American team revealed that they found cerebral anomalies in fourteen former long-term ecstasy users (1). The French observatory of narcotics and addictions (OFDT) advises people that frequent use may lead to psychological complications (depression or confusion), cardiac risks, states of post-use fatigue and possible psychological addiction. "The problem is that anything can be sold as ecstasy," confides a user. All types of amphetamines or methamphetamine are sold as ecstasy. These bogus pills are poorly manufactured in Polish or Czech laboratories from legal products like Ketamine ("Special K" or "Keta"). [note: a dubious statement, but nevertheless just what the article says]. But also we find a new generation of "ecstasy" like 2-CB, from Holland, or, lately, DOB (dimethoxy-bromoamphetamine), similar to LSD. More widely known in the USA, DOB composed most of the seizure in Dunkerque last October 28 . DOB can be up to 100 times more dangerous than genuine, pure ecstasy. Ecstasy, a cheap drug Just like in the fashion world, underground chemists permanently search for and create new molecules. And this constant change in products makes police detection work very difficult. "Now, in London, there is a lot of speed, low quality amphetamines," explains an English night-clubber. "It's cheap stuff, about two hundred French francs for fifty grams. That's enough to keep two cow-boys awake for 2 days!" The net result is similar to cocaine. Pilot studies in Lille, Paris and Bordeaux have been made by the Institute of research in the epidemiology of addiction (IREP). In their reports, they revealed that ecstasy is clearly used as a recreational drug. Users are mostly male young people and young adults, with a good socio-cultural background and social situation, say the specialists of the IREP. They usually take it on an experimental basis, during a music festival or just for fun with friends. The IREP specialists estimate that hundreds of thousands of young people have already tried it, and several tens of thousands have become regular users. The magnitude of the phenomenon is difficult to evaluate, concludes the IREP report, and it has become particularly troubling in the Benelux countries, in the large European cities, and above all in Great Britain. The recent huge seizures prove that narco-traffickers understand the importance of these new products, so easy to manufacture in small easy to hide laboratories close to the consumers. Christophe DORE (1.) Report published in the British magazine, The Lancet, on George A. Ricaurte's studies (Baltimore). - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake