What Makes Ecstasy So Dangerous? (VICE: High Society)

Introduction

British people statistically take more MDMA in one session than any other country on the planet. And not just a little bit more: on average, Brits take 420 milligrams per session. To put that in perspective, Germans, the same people who invented minimal techno and nightclubs that stay open for 60 hours – take only 200 milligrams. It’s still one of the safest drugs to take, but last year, ecstasy-related deaths reached their highest level in a decade, and now it’s back in the headlines.

Some people say it’s drug dealers’ responsibility for selling pills that are dangerously strong and cut with adulterants. Other people point to the government, who have failed to reduce the supply of ecstasy and are refusing to embrace harm reduction strategies that have worked in Europe. Of course it’s also possible that the issue lies with British drug users themselves, who sometimes need reminding that the barometer of a good night out isn’t how much of your tongue is left at the end of it. In this episode of High Society, we find out what’s making ecstasy so dangerous again, and how that danger can be reduced. [Taken from YT description]

Quotes

“At best, British street dealers will only have a vague idea of what’s in their drugs and that’s because ecstasy, whether it’s too weak, too strong, or too adulterated, is largely manufactured in Holland. And since the advent of the dark web, Dutch pill makers have been shifting 50 kilos of ecstasy per month. Why smuggle drugs when you can just mail them anonymously with legitimate couriers?”

“Gary Bass died from taking a pill laced with PMA, a substance that’s more poisonous and takes longer to kick in than MDMA. Users can think that their pills aren’t working, leading them to take a fatal dose.”

“Drug testing isn’t only important because of adulterants like PMA. It also allows users to know how much MDMA they’re taking, and that’s especially important this year when pills are the strongest they’ve been in a decade. A normal pill contains about 80 milligrams of MDMA, but recently they’ve been weighing in at 240 milligrams.”

Adam Winstock – Director of Global Drug Survey
“I think it’s to do with new manufacturers trying to make a place in market place – it’s effectively a pissing contest … and they are quite tragically better pills, the stronger pills. If there was a plea I could make to MDMA manufacturers it would be, guys standardized your pills, always have 100 milligrams in and score them four ways, and it would be fantastic. People could test those, take a quarter of the pill, see how they feel and there would be consistency.”

“I think it’s an easy criticism to say that we [The Loop] are encouraging drug use. What we hope is that we’re reducing drug-related harm. More than 50 people a year die from ecstasy in the U.K. and that figure is rising, so I think there’s a desire from everybody on site to be trying to reduce drug-related deaths.”