Earlier this year, a number of deaths related to PMA (Paramethoxyamphetamine) and PMMA (Paramethoxymethamphetamine) were reported in the national press . This issue has recently been highlighted again by Dr Brian Farrell during the second of two inquests heard at Dublin Coroner’s Court into the deaths of men who died in separate incidents having taken PMA over the June bank holiday weekend last year.
PMA and PMMA are stimulants with hallucinogenic effects similar to Ecstasy (MDMA). However, they are toxic at lower doses than MDMA and can also take longer to take effect. After the intake of a small amount of PMA/PMMA, blood pressure and body temperature rise steeply. The effects can feel similar to MDMA, although less euphoric. Larger doses can lead to coma and death.
The elevated risk associated with PMA/PMMA as compared to MDMA, along with the documented deaths and hospitalisations associated with these drugs has led to the creation of an awareness campaign by the Ana Liffey Drug Project, one of the country’s leading NGOs in the addiction sector. The campaign included harm reduction information in the form of a PMA/PMMA fact sheet, web page and poster. The campaign has been highlighted on the drugs.ie website and posters have been distributed to community and business groups.
To follow up on the initial phase of the campaign, the Ana Liffey Drug Project has now produced a two minute animated video featuring key PMA/PMMA campaign messages. It can be viewed at this link: drugs.ie/pma
Tony Duffin, Director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project said, “It’s not possible to tell if a pill is MDMA, PMA or PMMA by sight, smell or taste. Given that this is the case, PMA/PMMA present significant risks to those who use ecstasy, as they are likely to believe that they have taken MDMA. The aim of our awareness campaign is to provide people who do take such drugs with information that could save their lives. We have created this video to spread the message and we’d be grateful if people could share it via social media to help us reach as many people as possible. It’s particularly important at this time of year that people travelling to festivals who may be planning to use drugs have this knowledge.”
Spread the word
To help highlight this issue we are now asking people to tweet this page and to share the video on Facebook from here.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/warning-about-pma-pmma-drug-after-six-deaths-in-ireland-1.1832118
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/coroner-warns-that-pma-drug-is-highly-dangerous-30443647.html
Source: aldp, 22/07/14