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