tl;dr NBOMe mixtures sold as MDMA are around, don’t snort unknown caps, use test-kits wisely, look after your mates, and get your lab student/worker friends to contact us so we don’t need to rely on labs in Barcelona to access high-quality drug testing in Australia!
On the weekend 15-16 January 2017, there was a spate of poisonings, hospitalisations and deaths that have been associated a batch of capsules that were reportedly sold as MDMA or Ecstasy. Punters at Revolver nightclub and other clubs on Melbourne’s Chapel Street were affected.
The contents of these caps appeared damp, more like a brown sugar consistency than crystals or powder.
We obtained anonymous reports from people who consumed these capsules. The reports describe very strong hallucinogenic symptoms and paranoia. While in most cases, the symptoms resolved without medical intervention, they were very unpleasant, with one person reporting that they ‘felt like they were going to die or never be the same again’.
Reagent test kit results were shared by Bernie Maitri: these reports showed the substance was unlikely to be MDMA-like, and could instead contain PM(M)A or 2C-T-X. However these results were inconclusive, so we arranged to send a sample of this drug to Barcelona, where Energy Control conducts an international testing service. Mireia Ventura conducted the tests with GC/MS and LC/MS. The testing confirmed that the contents of the capsules:
- 4-FA (main substance)
- a low amount of MDMA
- 25C-NBOMe
This mixture is consistent with the reports. 25C-NBOMe is highly potent with only microgram doses required to produce strong hallucinogenic effects. 4-FA is an amphetamine-type stimulant which has been described as having an effect somewhere between amphetamine and MDMA. It is concerning that a low amount of MDMA was detected in the mixture, as this may be an indication that the manufacturers were hoping to fool reagent test kits by including enough MDMA to produce a positive result.
PLEASE GO TO BLUELIGHT FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE
http://bluelight.org/vb/content/252-25C-NBOMe-4-FA-and-MDMA-mixture
Pillreports is a global database of Ecstasy" pills based on both subjective user reports and scientific analysis. "Ecstasy" is traditionally the name for MDMA based pills, however here we also include closely related substances such as MDA, MDEA, MBDB. Pills sold as "Ecstasy" often include other, potentially more dangerous, substances such as methamphetamine, ketamine and PMA.