Rare hallucinogenic drug PMA kills man

[ergoamide]

Rare hallucinogenic drug PMA kills man

Monday Jul 23 19:06 AEST

Police are warning people to steer clear of party drugs after a 20-year-old NSW man died of a suspected overdose of a rare and toxic hallucinogen.

The death, which occurred at a party in Canberra earlier this month, is being investigated by police on behalf of the ACT Coroner.

Initial toxicology results indicate the presence of the extremely toxic hallucinogenic drug PMA or para-methoxyamphetamine.

It is the first time a screening test in the ACT has revealed the presence of PMA, police said.

PMA is known to have similar effects to ecstasy but is far more potent. Previous interstate deaths attributed to PMA indicate that users believed they were taking ecstasy.

In February this year 20-year-old Sydney woman Annabelle Catt died when she took PMA, thinking it was ecstasy.

Detective Superintendent Brian McDonald, head of the Territory Investigations Group, said while the cause of death was still to be properly determined, the presence of PMA was a major concern.

"We must strongly advise people against taking these dangerous drugs because users simply don't know what they are taking," he said.

"The drug you take could be seriously life-threatening."

Symptoms of PMA ingestion can include increases in pulse rate and blood pressure, elevated body temperature, erratic eye movements, muscle spasms, nausea, cardiac arrhythmia and arrest, breathing problems, renal failure, vomiting, convulsions and coma.

Doses of PMA over 50mg are considered potentially lethal, especially when combined with other drugs or alcohol.

One ecstasy tablet can contain between 120mg to 200mg.

Details of the victim have not been released.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=280246

[alkatrope]

Surprised they call it rare..

(And hallucinogenic!)

Edited July 24, 2007 by alkatrope

[ergoamide]

Well rare i can understand it doesn't pop p very much at all round these parts atually come to think of it it never has and no i know has ever seen the marquis reagent test for it. And accoring to shulgin it is somewhat hallucinogenic but it's not fun.

[Conan Troutman]

Well rare i can understand it doesn't pop p very much at all round these parts atually come to think of it it never has and no i know has ever seen the marquis reagent test for it. And accoring to shulgin it is somewhat hallucinogenic but it's not fun.

Rare....not as much as one would hope. Hallucinogenic defiently, much more visual than md I hear.

[Torsten]

another death directly attributable to misguided government policy

[XipeTotec]

another death directly attributable to misguided government policy

please explain? im pauline hanson

[Dodie]

If it were MDMA which should be in 'ecstasy' pills then there wouldn't of been an O.D Shroomy

[alkatrope]

Well rare i can understand it doesn't pop p very much at all round these parts atually come to think of it it never has and no i know has ever seen the marquis reagent test for it. And accoring to shulgin it is somewhat hallucinogenic but it's not fun.

I've seen it pop up quite a few times over the last couple of years, I dunno if it's as rare as one might think. I would say uncommon, though.

And my definition of hallucinogenic is a substance which causes visual disturbances which the user is completely unaware that they are not real.

But I'm not really surprised at all they call it hallucinogenic, people rarely stick to the above definition which only applies to a handful of drugs, eg tropanes.

[Torsten]

shroomy, the government at all levels has resisted any kind of harm minimisation in particular with regards to PMA. A large percentage of 'ecstacy deaths' [if not the majority] in australia are due to PMA and by eliminating PMA deaths the anti MDMA laws would look even more ridiculous than they are already. MDMA very rarely kills people and is really quite a safe substance to take if certain precautions are observed. The biggest problem with pills are the other crap that is in them and PMA ranks as the most destructive of them all.

With a little bit of funding and some education we could have reliable pill testing at most parties which would pretty much eliminate the PMA market at consumption level and hence at production level. It would be soooo easy.

But even if we followed through on the current stupid government policy which bans the import, possession and distribution of MDMA ingredients, why then does it not prohibit the ingredients for PMA? Sure, it would be a lot harder to ban fennel and anise oil, but the total lack of discussion on that topic indicates that they have no interest. It is much more convenient for statistics to have a few PMA deaths to help demonise MDMA.

It makes my blood boil to watch how these state and federal governments allow these kids to die just to make themselves look good and so they can avoid dealing with the fact that MDMA is a part of growing up for many young people and thatw e need to make this as safe as possible. The disaster surrounding the Annabel Catt case showed quite clearly that the police has no interest in stopping PMA getting onto the scene or they would have spend a few hundred bucks on getting suspected PMA seizures identified before they hit the market several months later. The police and politicians responsible for this should be arrested for failing their duty of care to the youth of the community that employs them.