One of the major reasons behind the push for drug legalization is control of purity and dosage – while purer pills may seem more dangerous, the opposite is true. A new study by American Addiction Centers found that less than half of all pills contain MDMA in the UK, and less than two fifths of MDMA is pure in the US.
The Netherlands contained the highest percentage of pills containing actual MDMA, at 68.8%, though other nations scored far lower than the US, with Turkey at 29%, Canada at 25% and Australia at 16.1%.
The study also revealed: “Of over 22,000 pill samples recorded, more than 71 per cent of users believed the drugs had been adulterated based on their experience after consumption.
“While Pill Reports found more than 55 per cent of the drugs examined were, in fact, pure MDMA, less than 29 per cent of men and women who took these pills correctly assessed the quality or chemical components that made up this substance.”
The study found further evidence of a nearly eight-fold increase in psychostimulant-related deaths, from 563 people in 1999 to almost 4,300 deaths in 2014.
According to PillReports.net, the average user has a 44.8% chance of taking a pill that is not pure MDMA. In some cases, versions of the drug may contain no MDMA at all.
See the full report here.
