There is a “significant risk” of people needing hospital treatment or potentially dying after taking powder drugs due to their high strength and the mix of substances included, the HSE has said.
The health authority on Thursday warned of changes in the drugs market as part of an awareness campaign running in advance of the St Patrick’s Day festivities.
Nikki Killeen, HSE project manager on emerging drug trends, said there had been a shift from the consumption of drugs in pill form to powders and crystals.
An analysis of MDMA powders and crystals found in Ireland showed they are extremely potent, Killeen said, meaning some users can take too much without realising their strength, which can lead to emergencies.
READ MORE
“With these bags, they’re multiple times the average dose, which people are completely unaware of. They’re consuming really high levels of powder, without realising just how small of an amount is needed,” she said.
“And they’re pouring powders into drinks and consuming quite large amounts of MDMA [in that way]. So we are really concerned with the use of powders at the moment.”
Added to this, Killeen said, health authorities are “quite concerned about young people using pink powders”. These are sometimes called pink cocaine, but rarely contain cocaine, she said.
The HSE analysed a sample of such a powder and found it contained six substances. Other samples contained a drug not previously identified in Ireland called 2-FMA.
Killeen said there is a greater risk of an emergency outcome when using such powders because “you’re taking multiple drugs at once”.
“We can’t say what the outcome will be with the powders and crystals but it’s very similar to MDMA pills, in that it’s very easy to overdose, to have a hospitalisation or fatality,” she said.
Dr David Weir, a HSE consultant psychiatrist specialising in addiction, said people may not be familiar with how such drugs work as they are new. This means people “may take more than they realise” very quickly.
“It’s both the substance and how its used” that increases that risk, he added.
Dublin DJ Shauna Dee said the use of these drugs is “really evident on the dance floor” when she is playing in nightclubs.
“I support the harm-reduction approach. Drugs have been in the nightlife scene forever, but we see a lot more of the pink stuff. The potency is just getting greater,” she said. “When I’m in the booth I can see the effect it has on people.”
The HSE said while it is safer to avoid the use of drugs altogether, if members of the public are doing so, they should start low and go slow.
