MDMA Now Even More Risky Due to Rising Impurities

MDMA Ecstasy

In the past, we have written about synthetic drugs, including synthetic cannabis or bath salts, perhaps the two most popular types. Such drugs are most commonly used among young people, the impoverished or people looking to beat a drug test. The news has been good about scaring some people away from trying or using these chemical regularly— being both dangerous and addictive. Overdose death rate stats are difficult to determine in the U.S., as people present in emergency departments with various side-effect symptoms.

While individuals will continue to use such drugs, if they are available, hopefully access will begin to decrease. However, even when people think they are doing one type of drug, they may in fact be doing something altogether different. You may have heard reports about the highly potent opioid fentanyl being stamped into pills resembling OxyContin? If so, then you probably know that many overdose deaths have resulted from disguising one drug as something else.

Fentanyl is not the only drug being mislabeled. It turns out that drugs that are popular among “clubbers” and music festival goers are commonly adulterated with other substances, some of which are potentially lethal. We don’t hear much anymore about Ecstasy. It is still used and abused to be sure, but these days people are more interested in 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA). The psychoactive ingredient used to make Ecstasy. Most people prefer to use MDMA because it is purer than Ecstasy, which is usually mixed with fillers like caffeine or other harmful additives. But is it really more pure? Is it even MDMA that people are doing? Sometimes, not always.

MDMA, Or Something Else?

New research suggests that MDMA, commonly called “Molly,” often contains dangerous additives, notably the chemicals used to make bath salts, according to a press release from The Johns Hopkins University. DanceSafe, a nonprofit, tested samples of pills or powder thought to be MDMA by people at music festivals and such. The service was conducted discreetly and free of charge. Of the 529 total samples collected between July 2010 and July 2015, 318 (roughly 60 percent) actually contained MDMA or the closely related drug MDA. The adulterated Molly contained:

  • Methylone and cathinones used to make synthetic drugs.
  • Methamphetamine
  • PMA, a dangerous form of amphetamine associated with overdoses and death.

The results show that the likelihood of taking something even more dangerous than MDMA is high.

“People who take pills and first responders need to know that no matter how the pills are branded or what name they are sold as, they almost always contain a mix of ingredients,” says Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Our results should discourage a false sense of security about the purity and safety of so-called Molly.”

MDMA Addiction

If you are using drugs like MDMA regularly, there is a good chance that you will be exposed to substances that are both addictive and dangerous. “Club drugs” are far from safe. Pure does not mean that a substance is without risk. Please contact 10 Acre Ranch for help.

Synthetic Marijuana: Deadly Side Effects

Synthetic Marijuana

The news of late has been dominated by talk of opioid narcotics, prescription drugs like oxycodone and illicit ones like heroin. Recently there has been a lot of talk about powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil, around 100 times and 10,000 times more potent than morphine respectively. In many ways, taking synthetic opioids can be a death sentence. Fentanyl was never meant to be used illicitly, and carfentanil was meant for elephants not humans.

Synthetic opioids are a major concern, to be sure, but there are other synthetic drugs that have been plaguing American streets for some time now. And there is a good chance that you have heard or read about many of them. Spice, K2, Flakka and bath salts may come to mind. In many parts of the world the chemicals used to make synthetic marijuana and bath salts are not outlawed. When governments to ban the ingredients used to make them, chemists are quick to alter the formula in order to circumvent the blacklist.

If you are working a program of addiction recovery, or have a vested interest in understanding these chemicals, you may be wondering what the attraction is to a family of drugs that has been linked to hundreds of terrifying news stories? The easiest way to answer that question is that they are easy to acquire, relatively inexpensive and often go undetected on standard drug screens. But despite the perceived benefits of synthetic drugs, the potential side effects are not worth the risk.

Unpredictable Synthetic Drugs

For the time being, let’s just spotlight synthetic cannabinoids; which, despite the moniker have little in common with traditional marijuana. To be sure, marijuana despite its benign reputation is not without risk. Yet, when you compare marijuana to synthetic cannabis—apples and oranges is what you find.

The chemical makeup of what is sprayed on herbal matter to be smoked by users is constantly being changed. A user hasn’t any way of knowing what to expect, and what they experience can be deadly. Common side effects of synthetic marijuana, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), include extreme anxiety, confusion, paranoia and hallucinations. And even more concerning:

  • Rapid Heart Rate
  • Vomiting
  • Violent Behavior
  • Suicidal Thoughts

In order to combat the synthetic drug crisis in America, lawmakers and government agencies have banned certain chemicals and begun targeting people distributing the dangerous drugs. Just this week, 42-year-old Ramsey Jeries Farraj from Bakersfield, pleaded guilty to a charge related to more than $4 million in synthetic drug-sale proceeds, Bakersfield Now reports. For his crimes related to selling spice and K-2 online, Farraj is looking at five years in prison and a fine.

Synthetic Marijuana is Dangerous

Young people are often drawn to synthetic drugs for the reasons mentioned earlier. They frequently do not know about the synthetic drugs deadly nature and that they can be addictive. If you are young adult male who is using synthetic drugs of any kind on a regular basis, there is a good chance that you have become dependent. With each week that passes, there is no way of knowing what changes chemists will make to the drugs you are consuming, the next batch may be your last. Please contact 10 Acre Ranch to break the cycle of addiction and begin the journey of recovery.