A deadly drug which is causing chaos in New Zealand, has now arrived in Australia.
The drug N-ethyl pentylone, which has caused ‘mass-overdoses’ in New Zealand, is three times more potent than MDMA.
N-ethyl pentylone was first detected in Australia at Canberra’s Groovin’ The Moo festival, which was home to the country’s first ever pill testing tent.
N-ethyl pentylone was first detected in Australia at Canberra’s Groovin’ The Moo festival (revellers pictured) , which was home to the country’s first ever pill testing tent
The drug N-ethyl pentylone, which has caused ‘mass-overdoses’ in New Zealand, is three times more potent than MDMA (Groovin’ The Moo pictured)
The doctor working inside the tent, Dr David Caldicott, said the discovery of N-ethyl pentyone in Australia was particularly frightening because the mixture of toxic chemicals had proven fatal.
‘The drug is known to cause mass-casualty overdoses, where you can have groups of 10-20 people just dropping at festivals,’ he told News.com.au.
The psychoactive drug was the cause of a man’s death in Florida and another person in New Zealand.
The drug was also responsible for scores of people hospitalised in Europe and the US.
The psychoactive drug was the cause of a man’s death in Florida and another person in New Zealand (festivalgoer at Groovin’ The Moo pictured)
The doctor working inside the tent, Dr David Caldicott, said the discovery of N-ethyl pentyone in Australia was particularly frightening because the mixture of toxic chemicals had proven fatal
N-ethyl pentylone was first detected in the United States in 2016, then in Europe and New Zealand in 2017, and now Australia.
In February this year, nine New Zealanders, including a 15-year-old, were taken to hospital after overdosing on N-ethyl pentylone in Christchurch.
The drug proved so problematic in New Zealand, the police were forced to issue a formal warning.
Detective Inspector Greg Murton said N-ethyl pentylone was three times more potent than MDMA or ecstasy, which meant people unknowingly ingested a higher amount of the drug than intended.
Detective Inspector Greg Murton said N-ethyl pentylone (pictured) was three times more potent than MDMA or ecstasy, which meant people unknowingly ingested a higher amount of the drug than intended
Australia’s first official pill testing service in numbers explained
‘The issue for the public is that a dose of MDMA/ ecstasy is generally 100mg, however to get the same effect only 30mg of N-Ethyl pentylone is required,’ he said.
‘If N-Ethyl pentylone is mistaken for MDMA/ ecstasy, the user will be taking three times the ‘prescribed’ dosage, posing a danger to themselves.’
Dr Caldicott warned there was an even greater risk of overdosing on the drug because it did not give users the same high as MDMA.
He said users were inclined to take more of the drug because they didn’t think the initial dose was working.
While it did not give users the same high, Dr Caldicott said N-ethyl pentylone was more poisonous than MDMA.
Dr Caldicott said the person who brought a pill containing N-ethyl pentylone into Canberra’s Groovin’ The Moo festival at the weekend, thought it was MDMA.
He said that person decided to discard the drug after discovering how dangerous it was.
Dr Caldicott said the person who brought a pill containing N-ethyl pentylone into Canberra’s Groovin’ The Moo (pictured) festival at the weekend, thought it was MDMA
Nearly 130 partygoers took advantage of the pill-testing service, with staff testing 85 drug samples.
Half returned a result of ‘other’ and contained lactose, sweetener, paint and even toothpaste, according to the Ted Noffs Foundation.
The foundation’s CEO Matt Noffs said the remaining 50 per cent contained pure MDMA, with two samples found to contain the deadly N-ethyl pentylone.