ISSUES
: Drugs
Chapter 1: Drug issues
8
problems, but we also saw a tripling
in the number of last year MDMA
users seeking EMT from 0.3% in
GDS2013 to 0.6% in GDS2014 to
0.9 in GDS2015. Now although it’s
important to note that GDS2013
was predominately UK, AU and
USA whilst GDS2014 and GDS2015
involved much larger samples and
more countries, the trend is striking
and worries me that better quality
MDMA in pill or powder form, taken
unwisely places people at greater
risk of harm.
Don’t be making pills with 200mg +
of MDMA in them please
Now although we saw a huge increase
in participation rates and countries
over those years you can escape the
fact pills and MDMA crystal are about
in abundance. Sometimes these
pills contain in excess of 200mg and
occasionally 300mg of MDMA, twice
and three times what most people
think is a reasonable dose. While the
mean amount of MDMA consumed
over a session seems to be about
1/4gm some countries are going
way above that. No surprise that it is
the UK topping the list at a whacking
mean dose of 0.42mg/session. I asked
Vice
’s Dutch editor Thijs Roes who had
interviewed several pill producers what
he thought was behind the production
of these super dose pills. He told me:
“What they’re doing is basically a
pissing contest. One told me it was a
competition between manufacturers
and a race against themselves. The
other described his 330mg pill as
a flagship product, as a way to get
known in the scene. They felt that users
would know to dose them, and that the
amount of MDMA would eventually
stabilise around 200mg.” Our request
would be make standard pills of 80–
100mg and put the dosage on them
– way more useful than logos for all
concerned, and if you are knocking
out 200mg pills put a big groove down
the middle so people figure out they
should just take half (or even better a
quarter). Every time you get a new pill
always take a quarter to start with and
wait at least 60–90 minutes before
dosing: “start low go slow”.
All of this combined with frequent
consumption with alcohol and
combining pills and powder explains
the high rates of EMT we are seeing.
What it says to me is that better
quality drugs can cause more harm
that rubbish ones – unless you know
what your taking. Once again so many
of these admissions could have been
avoided with some common sense
– see the GDS
High-Way Code
for a
safer use guide voted for by 80,000
people.
Nitrous oxide/laughing gas
Some drugs sit in that grey area of
legal versus not. Nitrous oxide is
such a drug. And it remains true that
a few balloons taken every now and
then, somewhere safe and when
you’re not already ‘munted‘ is not
going to do you any harm but our
data from almost 7,000 last year users
offers some words of caution. First
thing is the big increase between
GDS2014 and GDS2015 is people
who reported being worried about
the impact of nitrous oxide on their
physical health – tripling from 2.5%
to over 7.5%. Second is that nitrous
oxide inactivates Vitamin B12.
Lack of that vitamin – commonly in
vegetarians can cause anaemia and
nerve damage – called a peripheral
neuropathy. Our findings last year
suggested a strong dose response
relationship between the amount you
used in a session and frequency of
use people reporting numbness and
tingling persisting after use – a sign of
peripheral neuropathy. This year with
smarter questions developed with
the help of a neurologist (thanks to Dr
Paul Hart) our data seems to indicate
even more clearly that somewhere in
the region of 4% of last year users are
reporting symptoms consistent with
a peripheral neuropathy (numbness/
tingling in face, arms, mouth, legs/
shooting pains in limbs that persisted
for weeks after last use). There was
strong relationship with how much
and how often people used. So if
you use balloons, notice persistent
numbness/tingling in your fingers/
toes or around your mouth/face or
notice you are off balance or are
finding it hard to operate your phone
– go see your doctor. Investigated and
managed quickly the condition should
be reversible. This is no laughing
matter (the pun is intentional) andwhile
we fear the media will come up with
a headline like “hippy crack causes
paralysis” (thanks to Dr Stephen Kaar
for that), we do just want to let people
know that if you use a lot there are
risks. You can avoid those risks by not
using too much too often. I don’t think
we need to regulate just educate…
Our safer use advice is given below.
Safer use tips from gds to reduce
the risks of using nitrous oxide
Don’t inhale directly from the charger
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Avoid mixing in nitrous when you
are off your face on other drugs,
especially alcohol
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Try not to use more than five
balloons in a session and leave
time between them
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Make sure any space you are
using is well ventilated
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Don’t use near roads, canals or
other bodies of water
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Make sure you got mates around
you in case you fall over and hurt
yourself
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Leave several minutes between
rounds of hits and give yourself
breaks between periods of use to
refill those vitamin stores. Animal
protein (beef and fish in particular),
eggs, cheese are good sources
of B12. Fortified soy products
and supplements can be used by
vegetarians. And Marmite!!!
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If you experience persistent
numbness, tingling or weakness
in your fingers, hands or feet, or
notice you’re having difficulty
typing or losing your balance or
coordination strop using and go
see your doctor
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Finally there are reports that
cheap whipped cream bulbs
imported for China leave an oily
residue when the gas evaporates
– probably making them unfit
to dispense cream let alone to
inhale. So if you are going to
inhale try accessing your gas
from a quality supplier.
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The above information is from
the Global Drug Survey. Visit
for
more information.
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For anonymous, personalised
feedback about your drinking or
drug use visit
com or
.
© Global Drug Survey 2016
