Latest drug craze in Britain's clubs alarms doctors/Furious Sth African Cape residents take on drug lords

[Guest guest]

(Some people take 40 at a time and end up in emergency. But there's some psychedelic Mexican weed people are taking in NZ now. N)

Latest drug craze in Britain's clubs alarms doctors

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2 & objectid=10436544

Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Saturday April 28, 2007By Jeremy Laurance

(They are called 'party pills' in NZ, and school kids take them as immigrant corner store owners ignore their age, which should be 18.N))

A teenage clubber who collapsed in Britain after taking a dance drug marketed as a "safe" alternative to Ecstasy was lucky to survive, doctors say.

But manufacturers of the drugs claim 20 million pills have been consumed in New Zealand with no deaths or significant harm.

The 18-year-old girl took benzyl-piperazine, or BZP, at a London nightclub last May. Shortly after swallowing five tablets, she collapsed and suffered a seizure lasting 10 minutes.

Hospital doctors said her pupils were dilated, her heart was racing at 156 beats a minute and her body temperature and blood pressure had plummeted. They gave her a heavy dose of tranquillisers to calm her pulse. After 12 hours under observation she made a full recovery and was discharged.

She was one of seven patients admitted to the same emergency department with similar symptoms that night.

Writing in the Lancet, specialists say the case highlights the dangers of the drug, which is becoming increasingly common among young clubbers but which many doctors are unfamiliar with.

 

 

 

Until last month it was legally available over the counter in Britain.

The active ingredient in BZP is piperazine, which was developed in the 1950s as a worming medicine for veterinary use. It has a similar chemical structure to amphetamine, a stimulant, and has become an increasingly popular alternative to Ecstasy and amphetamines, being sold under names such as Pep Twisted, Legal E, Nemesis and Euphoria.

Last month Britain's medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, made its unlicensed sale illegal.

Dr David Wood and colleagues from the poisons unit at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital say manufacturers of the drugs claim 20 million pills containing piperazine have been consumed in New Zealand with no deaths or significant harm.

Doctors are sceptical about these claims since a study in New Zealand found 80 people had been treated in emergency departments for symptoms similar to those caused by amphetamines including nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat anxiety and agitation.

In 15 cases, the drug takers suffered seizures after eight hours and three patients had repeated seizures which doctors said were life threatening.

The authors pointed out that urine-testing kits designed to detect recreational drugs might miss piperazine. Doctors could be lulled into a false sense of security by the lack of cases in which harm was attributed to the drug, because it had not been identified or had been wrongly identified.

"Clinicians should be aware of the potential presenting features of piperazine toxicity, particularly because commercially available urine toxicological screening kits for drugs of abuse may not detect piperazines," they wrote.

In an accompanying commentary, Dr Roland Staack, from Munich in Germany, said the low number of reported cases of piperazine poisoning might be due to confusion with amphetamines.

"Piperazines and amphetamines are similarly marketed, consumed by the same population, and show similar pharmacological symptoms. Therefore a piperazine poisoning can easily be wrongly diagnosed as an amphetamine poisoning."

- INDEPENDENT

 

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 & click_id=13 & art_id=vn20070414090107148C822167

Furious Sth African Cape residents take on drug lords

 

 

 

Helen Bamford April 14 2007 at 09:27AM

 

 

 

 

 

The drug is also gaining popularity among femalesThe largest group with tik as their primary drug of choice is aged between 15 and 19, followed by the 20 to 24 age group, the 25 to 29 group and, finally, the 10 to 14 age group. More than 50 percent of those in treatment centres, aged under 20, had tik as their primary drug of choice. Since the beginning of 2005, tik use for under-20s in treatment had increased from 11 percent to the current 59 percent.While the face of tik is predominantly male, coloured, unemployed and single, the drug is also gaining popularity among females, with both sexes using the drug in almost equal numbers.Alcohol is also starting to be seen as the possible "gateway" drug that leads more young people to experiment with other drugs. In addition, researchers are starting to examine the link between tik use and risky sexual behaviour as the drug is seen to increase both confidence and sex drive.The MRC's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit said the recent findings were "unprecedented in terms of the sharp increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for tik-related problems".Senior scientist at the MRC, Andreas Pladdemann, said tik use had risen "dramatically" in Cape Town over the past three years, with adolescents forming a "large proportion of tik users".He said in the second half of 2002, 13 patients out of 1 551 had tik as their primary drug - but by the second half of last year, this had leapt to 1 184 patients out of 2 798."The majority (84 percent) were in treatment for the first time. The average age of patients who reported tik as their primary substance of abuse in the second half of 2006 was 22 years old and 72% were male."Most of the patients (90percent) were coloured, eight percent were white, one percent Asian/Indian and one percent were black. Notably, 37 percent of the patients were younger than 20 years of age," he said.The areas where there were 20 or more patients reporting to treatment centres with tik as their primary drug were listed as Atlantis, Athlone, Belhar, Bishop Lavis, Bonteheuwel, Delft, Eerste River, Elsies River, Kuils River, Manenberg,

 

 

This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on April 16, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Fed up with gangsters brazenly peddling drugs in their neighbourhoods, residents from the Cape Flats and the Atlantic suburbs have started laying down the law.In Mitchell's Plain, mothers and grandmothers have turned out in droves to march on the homes of drug lords and embark on sit-ins in streets notorious for drug dealing.For the past three weeks, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, they congregate outside drug dealers' houses, making no secret of why they are there.Abeda Benjamin, who lost a child to drugs, said they had already driven some of the dealers away.

 

 

 

 

'Now they evaporate like the morning mist when they see us'

"We've started noticing a decrease in crime and now nothing will stop us."In Sea Point groups of residents have been going out on patrol once a week for more than two years.

Called the Yellow-Bib patrols, their aim is to make business difficult for drug dealers and prostitutes by disturbing their trade.Sea Point councillor JP Smith said ordinary residents, including domestic workers and refugees, had joined the patrols which took place at different times and on different days each week."We basically stare down the dealers and prostitutes until they leave because they can't get customers."

 

 

 

 

'And there are more than a few policemen involved in dealing'

He said in the beginning they were threatened and intimidated, but simply laughed it off. "Now they evaporate like the morning mist when they see us."Earlier in 2007, normally peace-loving Rastas in Ocean View raided homes of suspected "tik" (methamphetamine) merchants and blockaded some of their homes.Soon after that thousands marched in drug-infested Manenberg to voice their disapproval.Philip Bam, chairperson of the Lotus River, Ottery and Grassy Park Ratepayers' and Residents' Association said they would meet religious leaders soon to look at similar action.They wanted to hold a prayer meeting in front of drug dealers' houses to drive home the message that they weren't wanted there."The situation with tik is terrible here and now heroin is coming in. It's getting out of control."Bam said people dealt in drugs openly and small children were being exposed to drugs."And there are more than a few policemen involved in dealing," he said.Grant Jardine, director of the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, said tik use was still on the increase and, while still primarily in low-income suburbs, was moving rapidly to all areas.He said the centre had seen a dramatic increase in the use of tik and a gradual but constant increase in the use of heroin."Every year the drug users' age of onset gets lower and the percentage of users increases."Jardine said at least 20 clients who had come in for treatment in recent months were under 13 years old.Most clients were still male, although the percentage of females had been steadily increasing.Jardine said community involvement in activities such as marches would only have benefits if part of a broader strategy."Whenever people want to do something they go on a march, but if it was that easy then we wouldn't have a drug problem."But Benjamin said they had no intention of giving up."We are strong and we won't stop because we believe we are making a difference."Today a mass march is taking place in Mitchell's Plain, involving communities from New Woodlands, Hazeldene and Woodridge. Starting at 10am, people will march to the police station where a memorandum will be handed to the Mitchell's Plain station commander. helen.bamford

 

 

Youth tik (methamphetamine) crisis spirals out of control

 

 

 

April 16 2007 at 04:46AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

By A'eysha Kassiem

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 & click_id=13 & art_id=vn20070416001030479C725283Children as young as 10 are experimenting with drugs and are addicted to tik, as the Western Cape's drug epidemic spirals out of control. And the number of tik patients seeking help at treatment centres has soared to 59 percent, from five at the end of 2003. More than a third of the patients were under 20.According to the latest statistics from the Medical Research Council (MRC), for the period between June and December 2006, substance abuse in the Western Cape over the past three years has skyrocketed, with the age of drug users ranging from 10 to 54.

 

 

 

The drug is also gaining popularity among femalesThe largest group with tik as their primary drug of choice is aged between 15 and 19, followed by the 20 to 24 age group, the 25 to 29 group and, finally, the 10 to 14 age group. More than 50 percent of those in treatment centres, aged under 20, had tik as their primary drug of choice. Since the beginning of 2005, tik use for under-20s in treatment had increased from 11 percent to the current 59 percent.While the face of tik is predominantly male, coloured, unemployed and single, the drug is also gaining popularity among females, with both sexes using the drug in almost equal numbers.Alcohol is also starting to be seen as the possible "gateway" drug that leads more young people to experiment with other drugs. In addition, researchers are starting to examine the link between tik use and risky sexual behaviour as the drug is seen to increase both confidence and sex drive.The MRC's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit said the recent findings were "unprecedented in terms of the sharp increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for tik-related problems".Senior scientist at the MRC, Andreas Pladdemann, said tik use had risen "dramatically" in Cape Town over the past three years, with adolescents forming a "large proportion of tik users".He said in the second half of 2002, 13 patients out of 1 551 had tik as their primary drug - but by the second half of last year, this had leapt to 1 184 patients out of 2 798."The majority (84 percent) were in treatment for the first time. The average age of patients who reported tik as their primary substance of abuse in the second half of 2006 was 22 years old and 72% were male."Most of the patients (90percent) were coloured, eight percent were white, one percent Asian/Indian and one percent were black. Notably, 37 percent of the patients were younger than 20 years of age," he said.The areas where there were 20 or more patients reporting to treatment centres with tik as their primary drug were listed as Atlantis, Athlone, Belhar, Bishop Lavis, Bonteheuwel, Delft, Eerste River, Elsies River, Kuils River, Manenberg,