Deadly ecstasy pills spur calls to legalise testing

The contamination of illegal ecstasy pills with toxic, psychoactive chemicals has sparked calls for the legalisation of pill testing services.

The lethal chemical PMA, dubbed ‘‘Dr Death’’, has been detected in ‘‘green apple’’ ecstasy pills sold in Wellington in August and September.

In the past two years PMA has been linked to the deaths of 27 ecstasy users in Britain and Ireland.

Ecstasy is usually sold on the basis it contains MDMA, a relatively non-toxic, class B substance.

But information obtained under the Official Information Act shows intercepted ecstasy pills usually contain a range of dangerous substances in place of MDMA.

National Drug Intelligence Bureau co-ordinator John O’Keefe said the pills most commonly contained mephedrone, methylone, or piperazines – powerful stimulants that can have toxic side effects.

New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said this was a worrying trend, and it meant users very rarely knew what they were taking.

Bell said it was a matter of time before someone died as a result.

‘‘There is a phenomenon of new chemicals being made available on the black market through the internet. We suspect the problem is only going to get worse.’’

Bell said the government routinely tested drugs intercepted on the street to see what they contained, and this information needed to be publicly available.

‘‘They use this information for criminal proceedings, and send it to hospitals so they know what treatment to provide, but that’s where it stops. It’s not a great leap to make that information more publicly available, to be able to warn people what is out there.’’

Bell said the Government should also legalise harmreduction services like pill testing, as the Netherlands had done.

The Misuse of Drugs Act prohibits a person from knowingly allowing drug use on their premises. This makes it illegal to provide drug-checking services as it was an acknowledgement that drug use is occurring.

Wellington Hospital clinical toxicologist Dr Paul Quigley said it was difficult to treat someone for an overdose when they did not know what they had taken.

He said pill-testing services would provide a way to support better-informed decisions about drug use.

The National Drug Policy released last month sets out the Government’s strategy for minimising alcohol and drug-related harm until 2020.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said one aim was to reduce the harm already occurring as a result of drug use. Pill testing had not yet been considered under the policy.