Our patients’ health takes priority during the COVID-19 pandemic and our doors remain open. To read about our commitment to patient and staff safety and how to keep yourself safe during the lockdown, 
Tackling drug use and addiction is not an easy job. Here in the UK, the drugs policy includes fines and prison sentences for those found to be in possession of illegal drugs. Harsher penalties are given to those who are found to be in possession with intent to supply. You may be fooled into thinking that these laws would act as a deterrent, but sadly this does not seem to be the case for many drug users and suppliers.
In fact, it was reported in May 2016 by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), that certain drugs such as ecstasy are becoming more readily available. Even more worrying is the fact that these drugs are becoming much more potent than they once were.
Online Access
A BBC report has discovered that many people are buying ecstasy, or MDMA as the chemical name is known as, on the ‘dark web’. The dark web is an area of the internet often used by criminal gangs and drug dealers and which can only be accessed via specific browsers and by those who know exactly what they are searching for – the websites and pages that are found on the dark web do not show up in conventional web searches.
The report by the BBC highlighted the fact that some drug users are bringing drugs with them to festivals, such as Nass in Somerset, despite the event having a strict zero-tolerance drugs policy. One drug user, who was renamed as Leslie to protect his privacy, admitted to having 24 ecstasy pills with him, which he purchased on the dark web for £85. He said the pills are the strongest version of MDMA that he ever had and admitted to being afraid when he took one. He said, “Just when I was walking to one of the sets, it suddenly hit me, and I was off my face. Normally, I react well – I’d be happy, just really excited.”
Leslie told the BBC reporter that he is aware of the dangers of buying drugs online and knows that doing so means taking the dealer’s word that the product is good. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Some drugs bought online have been mixed with ingredients such as rat poison or horse tranquillisers to make them go further and increase profits for the dealer. Those who take them are putting their lives at risk.
Ensuring Drug Purity
Nevertheless, Leslie said that those who purchase their drugs online could be more sure of it being pure as they are cutting out the middleman. He said, “Stupid people will get dirty stuff from the streets.”
The Global Drug Survey 2016 of around 50,000 people found that about ten per cent of those who use ecstasy source their pills on the dark web. However, this survey also highlighted the fact that there has been a massive increase in the number of female clubbers in Britain having emergency treatment after an adverse reaction to MDMA. In the past three years alone, the number has grown fourfold.
Risk of Death
As with all illegal drugs, those who take ecstasy pills could be putting their lives in danger. Michelle Shevlin lost her daughter Stephanie to ecstasy that she took in a nightclub. Michelle said, “When I found out MDMA was one of the causes of her death, I was really angry, upset, very annoyed. I still am annoyed.”
She said the pain is not going away and that ‘the days at the moment seem to be getting longer and harder’.
Sadly, those who take these pills often do not think of the consequences. According to Trevor Shine from TicTac Drug Identification, taking drugs is like a lottery because of the different way that certain people react to them. There is just no way to know which drugs will have fatal consequences.
Source:
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37156380