DEADLY FORM OF ECSTASY SEIZED

Special Report: Drugs In Britain

A deadly new variant of ecstasy linked to dozens of deaths across the globe
has arrived in Britain.

Substantial quantities of the drug, known on the street as 'Double
Stacked', were seized by police in the Birmingham area a few weeks before
Christmas. The drug, which is difficult to distinguish from ecstasy,
contains PMA, a stimulant 20 times more powerful than amphetamines, and
causes the user to hallucinate. PMA has been linked to several deaths in
Europe and two people died from taking it in Chicago earlier this year.

Also known as 'Chicken Yellow' or 'Chicken Fever', PMA is often contained
in a thick white tablet. Some tablets are known as 'Mitsubushi Turbos'
because they have the Japanese car brand's logo etched into the pill.

PMA has not yet had time to make a big impact on the UK club drug scene.
'PMA is a class A drug,' said a senior Scotland Yard source. 'It is the
most sexy and the most dangerous. Obviously there's the opportunity for it
to get into the club scene and the success of this depends on how much has
arrived in the UK.'

PMA, or paramethoxy-amphetamine, was considered responsible for the death
of 18-year-old Chicago woman Sara Aeschlimann last year. She died from the
collapse of her organs and severe internal bleeding. Her temperature had
risen to 108 C and authorities described her body as being 'cooked from the
inside'. Aeschlimann is thought to have taken seven of the pills. The US
Drug Enforcement Agency says that while 'ecstasy is bad, PMA is death.'

Fears are particularly acute over the spread of PMA because the drug at
first feels like a dilute form of ecstasy, encouraging people to take more
tablets. Within hours, the body temperature starts to rise. It has been
popular in Australia for years, and has been linked to dozens of deaths.