Party’s Over for Party Drugs
July 7th, 2009 by Rick
More bad news for the land down under in form of tainted ecstasy. The Crime and Misconduct Commission in Australia is planning on releasing a report saying that ecstasy cooks are spiking their drugs with:
- Painkillers
- Anti depressants
- Methamphetamine
- Ketamine
CMC intelligence director Chris Keen said:
Whereas previously a tablet may have mainly contained ecstasy as the active drug there is now an increased incidence of tablets containing other types of drugs within one tablet. [...] A person who believes they have overdosed from ecstasy may be shown from a toxicology perspective to be from anti-depressive drugs because that was major content of the tablet. [...] To meet the high market demand tablets are being sold as ecstasy that contain no ecstasy at all. [...] Another result of lower purity tablets is that consumers are on average swallowing more tablets in a session (from one to two) than they were five to six years ago, possibly this is to seek achieving the same high. [...] This type of behaviour creates a greater risk for adverse reactions and overdoses.
According to a report by the Australian Crime Commission, Australia has the highest use of ecstasy per capita in the world.
Warning: Use Ketamine and Kidneys Say Sayonara
June 9th, 2009 by Rick
Some people really go out of their way for a high, trying all kinds of things but when it comes to Ketamine (an anesthetic/tranquilizer for animals), the cost of using this as a hallucinogenic drug doesn’t seem to be worth it health-wise. The medical community is now starting to see a link between Ketamine use and serious bladder and kidney conditions with prolonged exposure to the substance.
Lead researcher Dr. Angela Cottrell at the Bristol Urological Institute at Southmead Hospital said:
There is a worrying link between Ketamine use and urinary tract pathology that is proving difficult to manage. A multidisciplinary approach involving psychiatrists, drug workers, pain consultants, urologists and GP is needed to tackle this growing problem. A harm reduction strategy to increase awareness of the risks and help people reduce their intake is also needed.
With reports of cocaine possibly being contaminated with Levamisole, and now Ketamine being bad for the human body, weed may just be the breakout safe alternative!
Ketamine Tops Cocaine in UK
January 16th, 2009 by Perry
Using the British crime survey and a study by DrugScope (a charity which monitors recreational drug use), the government recently recognized that Ketamine (also known as Special K) is fast becoming a drug of choice in the United Kingdom.
Ketamine grew in popularity on the rave / club scene, its affordability – at around 20 pounds a gram – has authorities worried. They recently made statements considering the drug more harmful than ecstasy, which is huge in the rave scene.
The drug can be swallowed, injected or smoked, and its reputation as a cleaner option than cocaine has led to the deaths of 23 people in the last decade. Now Ketamine has grown beyond being a simple raver drug and is hitting more mainstream usage – as evidenced by the price drop.
The club drug market is a big one, and whatever gives the most bang for the buck (while not killing people) is going to get repeat business. It’ll be interesting to see how far spread Ketamine use will get in London, Europe and beyond.
