PMA Warning for Clubbers, Premium Drug in Pill May Contain Other Substances

Back in the 90s, ecstasy has been the drug of choice for clubbers in the UK and US, but once users seek for alternative substances other than methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), its popularity declined.

But according to Drugscope, an organization monitoring illicit drug prices, the party pill is back but is repackaged as a ‘premium product.’

According to a survey it conducted, high-MDMA content ecstasies were available in half of the 20 cities and towns featured in the annual UK drugs scene survey (*Published at The Guardian, November 20, 2011 “Ecstasy is back in clubs as newly potent drug is taken with ‘legal highs’).

Photo Credit: The Independent

Now as part of its development, in a more recent article published, The Guardian, July 22, 2013, PMA: ‘not just another drug scare story,’ there comes pink ecstasy, made with paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA), a class-A drug, which is far riskier than MDMA in older ecstasy versions.

This new drug is linked with several deaths across the United Kingdom because contents of such cannot be determined once transformed from powder to tablet, a common problem in pills.

PMA, a newer party drug, takes an hour before effects kick in. As a result, people tend to take in another, thinking that the first pill did not work and following then is a massive dose.

Yet some sources claim that PMA is not ecstasy.

Known as a hallucinogenic stimulant, PMA, which is often distinguished as a pill with logos, including Killer, Red Mitsubishi, Dr. Death, Rolex and Chicken Fever, among others, is now in Europe (also in the UK) and is said to be one of the most dangerous potent drugs around. Tablets come in different colors (aside from pink), including red, white, yellow and tan.

PMA, which is marketed and sold as ecstasies, works like MDMA wherein users can feel alert, full of energy and alive. But unlike the latter, though, PMA may kill even at little doses and can cause fatal rise in one’s body temperature, and because effects are longer to be felt, users overdose through taking pill after pill, wrongly thinking that nothing is happening (something making PMA more dangerous than MDMA).

Nevertheless, pills may be risky in certain degrees, and just like MDMA, users cannot really determine what are in PMA pills, unless such undergo lab testing. Be aware, as PMA stories aren’t just other drug scares, but something to look into and that should make authorities and people more vigilant for safety.