The recent deaths of two men in Kinsale highlight the wide availability of new synthetic drugs. Their ingredients are often unknown to users, and their effects can be lethal
LAST MONDAY SHOULD have been Michael Coleman’s second week in his new job at Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company. Having graduated from Cork Institute of Technology as a chemical engineer, the 22-year-old had recently moved to a cottage in Kinsale with his partner. One neighbour reported having seen a fire lighting in the house in recent weeks and said the young couple had looked very happy. Liam Coffey, who was also 22, had stayed with the couple for the weekend. At 6.10am last Sunday the bodies of Coleman and Coffey were discovered.
Unusually, in the days that followed, the HSE warned about the substance gardaí believe was linked to the deaths of both men. The warning urged medical workers and drug users to watch out for a substance known to contain two amphetamines: methylamphetamine, also known as MDMA or ecstasy, and paramethoxymethamphetamine, or PMMA, a stimulant and psychedelic sometimes known as “Dr Death” or “Mandy”. The warning included a photograph of a brown powder in a clear bag and listed symptoms users and front-line staff should be aware of.
Also unusually, the HSE detailed “practical steps that drug users can take to prevent overdose”. These included avoiding mixing the drug with alcohol or other drugs, and knowing your tolerance levels. This is the first warning in Ireland relating to a mix of MDMA and PMMA, and it follows similar moves in other countries, among them Israel, where dozens of deaths have been linked to the new drug since 2007. Deaths have also been reported in Australia, Scotland, Canada and the US.
Sinead O’Mahony Carey, of the HSE’s substance-misuse service in south Co Tipperary, says drugs such as PMMA have come to regional agencies’ attention in recent years. “Since ‘legal highs’ were made illegal in 2010, we are seeing the emergence of a range of new chemicals, particularly in the recreational-drug scene,” she says.
Some users say they first encountered a powdered form of MDMA more than a decade ago; they regarded it as a purer type of tablet ecstasy. The trend of mixing it with other components, such as PMMA, is more recent. The Garda has reported a decline in the use of ecstasy during the past five years but a marked increase in that of new synthetic substances. One 32-year-old professional who moved to Dublin from the US and is an occasional user of MDMA was surprised at how socially acceptable that drug and its variations are here.
Source: Brian O'Connell, Irish Times, 15/09/2012
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