para-Methoxyamphetamine

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
4-MA steroid
.
para-Methoxyamphetamine
Clinical data
Trade namesDr.Death
Routes of
administration		Oral
ATC code
  • none
Legal status
Legal status
Identifiers
  • 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)propan-2-amine
JSmol)
  • C1=CC(=CC=C1CC(C)N)OC
  • InChI=1S/C10H15NO/c1-8(11)7-9-3-5-10(12-2)6-4-9/h3-6,8H,7,11H2,1-2H3 checkY
  • Key:NEGYEDYHPHMHGK-UHFFFAOYSA-N checkY
 ☒NcheckY (what is this?)  (verify)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 4-Methoxyamphetamine.

para-Methoxyamphetamine (PMA), also known as 4-methoxyamphetamine (4-MA), is a

entactogen effects,[5] and behaves more like an antidepressant in comparison,[6] though it does have some psychedelic properties.[7][8]

PMA has been found in tablets touted as MDMA (ecstasy)[9][10][11][12] although its effects are markedly different compared to those of MDMA. The consequences of such deception have often included hospitalization and death for unwitting users. PMA is commonly synthesized from anethole, the flavor compound of anise and fennel, mainly because the starting material for MDMA, safrole, has become less available due to law enforcement action, causing illicit drug manufacturers to use anethole as an alternative.[13]

Adverse effects

PMA has been associated with numerous adverse reactions including death.

hallucinations may occur. The effects of PMA also seem to be much more unpredictable and variable between individuals than those of MDMA, and sensitive individuals may die from a dose of PMA by which a less susceptible person might only be mildly affected.[16] While PMA alone may cause significant toxicity, the combination of PMA with MDMA has a synergistic effect that seems to be particularly hazardous.[17] Since PMA has a slow onset of effects, several deaths have occurred where individuals have taken a pill containing PMA, followed by a pill containing MDMA some time afterwards due to thinking that the first pill was not active.[18]

Overdose

PMA overdose can be a serious medical emergency that may occur at only slightly above the usual recreational dose range, especially if PMA is mixed with other stimulant drugs such as cocaine or MDMA. Characteristic symptoms are pronounced

Serotonin antagonists and dantrolene may be used as required. Despite the seriousness of the condition, the majority of patients survive if treatment is given in time, however, patients with a core body temperature over 40 °C at presentation tend to have a poor prognosis.[19]

Pharmacology

PMA acts as a

MAO-B,[24][25] and the combination of this property and serotonin release is likely responsible for its high lethality potential.[23]

It appears that PMA elevates body temperatures dramatically; the cause of this property is suspected to be related to its ability to inhibit MAO-A and at the same time releasing large amounts of serotonin, effectively causing

MAOIs. Many amphetamines and adrenergic compounds raise body temperatures, whereas some tend to produce more euphoric activity or peripheral vasoconstriction, and may tend to favor one effect over another. It appears that PMA activates the hypothalamus much more strongly than MDMA and other drugs like ephedrine, thereby causing rapid increases in body temperature (which is the major cause of death in PMA mortalities).[26][27][28] Many people taking PMA try to get rid of the heat by taking off their clothes, taking cold showers or wrapping themselves in wet towels, and even sometimes by shaving off their hair.[29]

History

PMA first came into circulation in the early 1970s, where it was used intentionally as a substitute for the hallucinogenic properties of LSD.[3] It went by the street names of "Chicken Powder" and "Chicken Yellow" and was found to be the cause of a number of drug overdose deaths (the dosages taken being in the range of hundreds of milligrams) in the United States and Canada from that time.[30] Between 1974 and the mid-1990s, there appear to have been no known fatalities from PMA.[31]

Several deaths reported as MDMA-induced in Australia in the mid-1990s are now considered to have been caused by PMA, the users unaware that they were ingesting PMA and not MDMA as they had intended.[12] There have been a number of PMA-induced deaths around the world since then.[32][33]

In July 2013, seven deaths in Scotland were linked to tablets containing PMA that had been mis-sold as ecstasy and which had the Rolex crown logo on them.[10] Several deaths in Northern Ireland, Particularly East Belfast were also linked to "Green Rolex" pills during that month.[34]

In 2014, 2015 and early 2016, PMA sold as ecstasy was attributed for more deaths in the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Argentina. The pills containing the drug were reported to be red triangular tablets with a "Superman" logo.[11][35][36][37]

The Red Ferarri pills are a new press of the Superman logo tablets that were reported to be found in Germany and Norway from 2016 to 2017.[38]

Society and culture

Legal status

International

PMA is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.[39]

Australia

PMA is considered a Schedule 9 prohibited substance in Australia under the Poisons Standard (October 2015).[40] A Schedule 9 substance is a substance which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, sale or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of Commonwealth and/or State or Territory Health Authorities.[40]

Finland

Substance is scheduled in decree of the government on amending the government decree on substances, preparations and plants considered to be narcotic drugs.[41][42]

Germany

PMA is part of the Appendix 1 of the Betäubungsmittelgesetz. Therefore, owning and distribution of PMA is illegal.

Netherlands

On 13 June 2012 Edith Schippers, Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, revoked the legality of PMA in the Netherlands after five deaths were reported in that year.[43]

United Kingdom

PMA is a Class A drug in the UK.[citation needed]

United States

PMA is classified as a

hallucinogen under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States.[44]

Economics

Distribution

Because PMA is given out through the same venues and distribution channels that MDMA tablets are, the risk of being severely injured, hospitalized or even dying from use of ecstasy increases significantly when a batch of ecstasy pills containing PMA starts to be sold in a particular area.[45] PMA pills could be a variety of colours or imprints, and there is no way of knowing just from the appearance of a pill what drug(s) it might contain.[46][47] Notable batches of pills containing PMA have included Louis Vuitton,[48] Mitsubishi Turbo, Blue Transformers, Red/Blue Mitsubishi and Yellow Euro pills. Also PMA has been found in powder form.[49]

Analogues

Four analogues of PMA have been reported to be sold on the black market, including

4-EtOA was briefly sold in Canada in the 1970s, but little is known about it.[3]
4-MTA, however, is even more dangerous than PMA and produces strong serotonergic effects and intense hyperthermia, but with little to no euphoria, and was implicated in several deaths in the late 1990s.

See also

References

  1. ^ Anvisa (2023-07-24). "RDC Nº 804 - Listas de Substâncias Entorpecentes, Psicotrópicas, Precursoras e Outras sob Controle Especial" [Collegiate Board Resolution No. 804 - Lists of Narcotic, Psychotropic, Precursor, and Other Substances under Special Control] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Diário Oficial da União (published 2023-07-25). Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  2. ^ Drug Enforcement Administration October 2000. The Hallucinogen PMA: Dancing With Death
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-9630096-0-9
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  4. ^ Karlis S (7 April 2008). "Warning of possible shift to killer drug". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
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    S2CID 30080516
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  9. ^ "EcstasyData.org: Results : Lab Test Results for Recreational Drugs". www.ecstasydata.org.
  10. ^ a b Davies C (10 July 2013). "Warning over fake ecstasy tablets after seven people die in Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  11. ^ a b Barrell R (2 January 2015). "Four Dead Amid Fears Of Dodgy Batch Of 'Superman' Ecstasy Hitting The UK". HuffPost UK.
  12. ^
    PMID 9760094
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  13. PMID 12742705
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  14. PMID 11599618
    .
  15. PMID 12935573
    .
  16. S2CID 40206693
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  17. PMID 15036441
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  18. PMID 12908947
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  19. S2CID 39578828
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  20. PMID 946817
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  21. ^
    PMID 5132700
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  22. ^
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  23. ^
    S2CID 24347904
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  24. S2CID 42213032
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  25. ^
    S2CID 403633
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  26. S2CID 9680452
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  27. S2CID 23372945
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  28. S2CID 25420902
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  29. S2CID 28006785
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  30. ^ DEA. "The Hallucinogen PMA: Dancing With Death" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  31. PMID 9547415
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  32. PMID 15274949
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  33. S2CID 11987961
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  34. ^ "Renewed warning over 'Rolex' pills". BBC News. 24 July 2013.
  35. ^ "WATCH OUT FOR DANGEROUS SUPERMAN PILL - News - Deep House Amsterdam". deephouseamsterdam.com. 30 January 2014.
  36. ^ "¿Qué es Superman, la droga que ya ha cobrado varias vidas en el mundo?" [What is Superman, the drug that has already claimed several lives in the world?]. ElPais [The Country] (in Spanish). 18 April 2016.
  37. ^ "Las claves para entender qué pasó". La Nación. 2016-04-17.
  38. ^ "Drug Warning – Reagent Tests UK". www.reagent-tests.uk.
  39. ^ "Annual Estimates Of Requirements Of Narcotic Drugs, Manufacture Of Synthetic Drugs, Opium Production And Cultivation Of The…" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  40. ^ a b Poisons Standard October 2015 https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2015L01534
  41. ^ "Valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina pidettävistä aineista, valmisteista ja kasveista annetun valtioneuvoston asetuksen muuttamisesta" [Decree of the Government on amending the government decree on substances, preparations and plants considered to be narcotic drugs]. Finlex (in Finnish). Helsinki: Finland's Ministry of Justice. 25 October 2018.
  42. ^ "Valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina pidettävistä aineista, valmisteista ja kasveista annetun valtioneuvoston asetuksen muuttamisesta" [Decree of the Government on amending the government decree on substances, preparations and plants considered to be narcotic drugs]. Finlex (in Finnish). Helsinki: Finland's Ministry of Justice. 13 January 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  43. ^ "Doden na gebruik speed met 4-MA" [Deaths after using speed 4-MA] (in Dutch). 13 June 2012.
  44. ^ 21 CFR 1308.11 Archived 2009-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
  45. PMID 15274949
    .
  46. ^ "Drug Info". Archived from the original on 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  47. ^ "Warning: pills sold as ecstasy found to contain PMA". Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  48. ^ Chamberlin T, Murray D. NET Syndicated QLD News 'Louis Vuitton' designer death drug hits the streets
  49. PMID 11599617
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  50. ^ Casale JF, Hays PA, Spratley TK, Smith PR (2006). "The Characterization of 4-Methoxy-N-ethylamphetamine Hydrochloride". Microgram Journal. 4 (1–4): 42–46.

External links

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