DrugNet Europe. September-October 2000 Issue No. 25

IDirm Met E.M.C.D.D.Α. European Moniioring centre Bimonthly Newòletter ofr the european Monitoring Centre tor Drug& and Drug Addiction for Drugs and Drug Addiction —.—.... ■■■ ' ■ —.———­September-October2000·Issue No. 25 ISSN OB7Î-S37<) tropicSubstances and, when taken in overdose, may be more dangerous than SVNTHETIC DRUG ALERTIMDMA. At doses from 60 mg, PMA can CMCDDA warm national networks cause a sudden, large and potentially fatal rise in blood temperature, body temperature and blood pressure. n 11 July, the EMCDDA released dose, could bring possible toxic effects an alert through the REITOX including: hallucination; confusion; These preventive warnings released by o network regarding 'ecstasy' seizures; increase in body temperature; the EMCDDA to national networks tablets and capsules containing very high sweating; heart problems; coma; or reveal the effectiveness of the early­doses of MDMA.1 These had been detected death. The note cautioned users to be warning system on new synthetic drugs in Belgium and France before the Summer. wary of taking any 'ecstasy' tablet, as (established under the 1997 Joint the resultant effects were unpredictable. Action) in calling for rapid responses to In some cases, more than 200 mg of the emergence of harmful substances MDMA had been found in the tablets, On 19 July, the EMCDDA released a in the European Union. roughly twice the dose usually sold to second alert through the REITOX net­Lena Weitberg users.