Erowid Note, Jan 2004: Below is an article by Nicholas Saunders from 1994 about the persistent, but mostly unfounded, rumor that many ecstasy pills contain heroin. The article is now out of date, but still represents an interesting and useful discussion of the issue at the time. [Back to Ecstasy Pills That Contain Heroin? Little Data to Support Rumor]
From: Nicholas SaundersDate: Sun, 27 Nov 1994 10:43:13 GMT Newsgroups: alt.drugs Subject: Ecstasy spiked with heroin and other rumours This is an edited version of an article in December issue of Eternity magazine Rumours You've probably heard stories of E being spiked with addictive and poisonous substances. True, when you buy "Ecstasy" there's no quality control and you may well get cocktails of other drugs, particularly when the dealer has run out of MDMA. You may also get a dud. But not heroin or poison. Every day the police confiscate suspect drugs which are sent to a forensic laboratory at Aldermaston specially equipped to detect drugs, and they have never come across drugs sold as Ecstasy containing heroin. People taken to hospital with possible drug problems have samples of their blood sent to the National Poisons Unit which has special equipment to detect drugs: heroin has not been found in the blood of patients reported to have taken only Ecstasy. So how did the rumours start? A year ago Time Out magazine ran a double page feature entitled "Bitter Pills", subtitled "Ecstasy has turned to agony for thousands of E users" as dealers spike tablets and capsules with heroin, LSD, rat poison and crushed glass. The story was repeated all over the place, even in a Danish newspaper. I questioned the source quoted: Stephen Beard of the Newham Drugs Advice Project. He was elusive, and when I finally I got him on the phone would only say that the story came from a dealer who said he made fake Ecstasy by crushing light bulbs. There was no supporting evidence such as lab tests or reports from doctors who had treated users. The National Poisons Unit told me there had been no recent cases of poisoning due to ground glass or rat poison. Yet, in spite of my protests, Newham and Time Out did nothing to correct the story. Likewise, Mixmag's recent feature on Ecstasy omitted to mention the Glasgow tests showing that Ecstasy was not contaminated, even though they had the results. Mixmag also said: "300 mg MDMA can kill a small girl" (the lowest lethal dose recorded in animal trials was 20 mg/kilo, or 300 mg for someone weighing 15 kg: a very small girl); and "MDA is like strong LSD mixed with speed" (MDA has no LSD-like effects, it is similar to MDMA but longer lasting and with less warmth). Its as though no-one wants to undermine the established myths. One of these came from a satirical song in the fifties called The Old Dope Peddler: "He gives the kids free samples because he knows full well, that today's young innocent faces will become tomorrow's clientele". Its no more likely than your local wine merchant going to the trouble and expense of injecting bottles with heroin, hoping that you will become an addict to boost his sales. True, some dealers cheat by selling any old white powder as Ecstasy, but cheats are unlikely to sell heroin at a loss or go to the trouble of crushing light bulbs. Most of the substitutes found in Ecstasy are not harmful, but can produce unexpected effects. However, before you blame the pill, you should realise just how important is the situation and you own expectations. In fact, very few people realise and accept how much the effect of drugs like Ecstasy depends on their own situation, and state of mind at the time. My best E experience was caused by an identical tablet as one that made a friend sick and another that had no effect (at a party in an enclosed tunnel). Remember that E is not simply a happy pill, but lowers your defences and allows you to open up. However, it may be more comfortable to remain defensive and reserved unless you are in a situation where you feel good. E can bring up suppressed feelings which you may not be prepared to face. More on situations to avoid and emotional dangers next month. Deaths in Scotland I have been trying to discover what caused the deaths at Hanger 13 - so as to inform people and prevent more tragedies. I have even spoken to say they know but can't tell because, mad though it seems, Scottish law prohibits them from revealing cause of death. However, the Home Office licensed Glasgow University to collect and analyse 15 samples of "Ecstasy" after the deaths. 14 were pure MDMA and one was a capsule that contained speed with just a trace of MDMA. So it seems unlikely that these deaths were due to poisons sold as Ecstasy. Incidentally, doctors who had talked to users of "Rhubarb and Custard" said they believed it contained "MDMA plus a strong hypnotic" (e.g. heroin). In fact it was pure MDMA. A possibility, believed by the National Poisons Unit, is that these people died from overheating which has been the cause of nearly all rave deaths, particularly in clubs with nonstop hard core techno, no chill-out area and no free water. The tragedy is that those people didn't know the importance of avoiding overheating. The media love to say that people who take Ecstasy risk dropping dead without warning, but the warning is clear to those who look out for it: getting too hot. The risk can be avoided by taking breaks, cooling off and drinking plenty of water. Overheating also kills people who do not take drugs, but without drugs the discomfort is more obvious. Another theory is that the Scottish victims took Temazapam or Valium with Ecstasy. Reports say the two taken together can "hit you like a hammer". The lesson is: "Don't mix E with other drugs and don't take too much too often". My book E for Ecstasy is completely sold out, but a revised edition is freely available on Internet in two locations. You can download the book in two files located at: ftp://ftp.hmc.edu/pub/drugs/mdma/e.for.ecstasy.Z and e.for.ecstasy.append.Z. You can also browse through the book on-screen and find references using hypertext: use World Wide Web and do a Lycos search for Ecstasy. The next printed edition is due by the end of February 1995. [Erowid Note: "E for Ecstasy" can now be found online at Erowid.]