Weather: Hi 13°C / Lo 7°C
Drug users 'overdosing on ecstasy by mistake'
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Print
Email
Hospitals are facing an influx of drug users who have overdosed on MDMA – the main ingredient of ecstasy – because they thought they were snorting cocaine.
Professor David Nutt, incoming chairman of the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, said drug users were buying white powder but did not know what it was.
"If you are buying white powders from someone, how do you know if you are getting MDMA, methamphetamine or cocaine? It's potentially very dangerous," he said.
The warning came at a meeting of the council in London as it heard from experts on the harm done by ecstasy. The council could recommend, when it reports next year, that the drug be downgraded from class A to class B. The Government is firmly opposed to the idea.
Dr Paul Dargan, head of the toxicology unit at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, said treating patients poisoned by MDMA powder they thought was cocaine was "a clinically common issue".
Post a comment
Limit: 500 characters
View all comments that have been posted about this article
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP address logged and may be used to prevent further submissions. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by BelfastTelegraph.co.uk's Terms of Use.
Posts submitted in UPPERCASE letters will be rejected.
90%
10%
