TRENDY DRUGS A MYSTERY

Experts admit lack of knowledge. People trying these supercharged
chemical combinations 'have no idea what they're taking'

Even those patrolling the borders of illicit drugs know little about
the era's trend-setting synthetic drugs, delegates from around the
world were told as the first forum on drugs and dependencies ended
yesterday.

"We are facing this absolutely unknown territory," Louise Nadeau of
the Universite de Montreal told delegates during the forum's final
session.

More than 2,700 participants considered a diverse range of topics
during the five-day event but "synthetic drugs didn't get the
attention they deserve," Sandeep Chawla, chief of research for the
United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, in
Vienna, told delegates.

During one forum workshop, RCMP officers told participants that
so-called designer drugs became popular in the rave scene but have
moved into the mainstream and are becoming the recreational drug of
choice among young people.

MDMA, known as ecstasy, has the highest profile, the workshop was
told, but the trend among those who manufacture the drugs is to
combine it with other drugs - everything from Viagra to
antidepressants or powerful hallucinogens such as LSD.

People taking these supercharged chemical combinations "have no idea
what they are taking or the possible effects," said Nadeau, adding
that little research has been done on the various permutations of drugs.

Her comments came the same day the journal Science published a study
indicating that just one night's use of ecstasy can cause long-lasting
brain damage that may lead to the early onset of Parkinson's and other
neurodegenerative diseases.

One interesting characteristic about these designer drugs is that
they're made in industrialized countries, including Canada, unlike
"traditional" hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin. We will be
hard-pressed to blame the Third World for this affliction, she said.

Among the forum's key recommendations was a call for a "balanced and
integrated approach" to licit and illicit drugs, one that puts both
"demand" and "supply-reduction" strategies at par.

One of the loudest controversies in the arena of drug control is how
to deal with illicit drugs. Simply put, one school favours prohibition
and suppression of drugs - as exemplified by the U.S. - and the other
favours so-called harm reduction with a drug policy that includes
legalization and/or decriminalization of some drugs, as practiced in
some European countries.

The forum has sought to integrate those concerns "and be above them,"
forum chairman Pierre Jeanniot said in an interview. He and Luc Chabot
- - the driving force behind the forum - announced that there's a move
to create a permanent secretariat for the forum in Montreal. It
wouldn't fall under the UN umbrella but would be an nongovernmental
organization.

A vision of this organization is being drafted and should be ready
within six weeks.

For more information, visit the Web site www.worldforumdrugs-dependencies.com