Tag: DrogArt

Services in Slovenia well organised

Posted on by Milutin

Drop-in centres in Slovenia have been closed by the decision of the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic.

In Ljubljana, the Association for Harm Reduction Stigma continues to distribute sterile injecting equipment. The mobile outreach service (a van) continues to operate in the central part of Slovenia.

Injecting drug users have access to sterile injecting equipment but security measures are introduced: clients and staff have to keep 1.5 m distance from each other. All other information and counselling are available via telephone or online.

Drug testing, performed by Association Drogart, is open, but in smaller scale as before and with more safety measures.

OST is working, users get their take home medicine for a week, some even for two or three weeks. OST delivery was organised in a very good way since the first indications that the epidemic can hit Europe appeared.

One of the problems is closure of public transportation, which means that some persons cannot reach the OST clinics. For some of them, Association for harm reduction Stigma can deliver their methadone.

The greatest challenge is to support homeless people because they have nowhere to go (all daily care programs are closed, as well as public toilettes, due to safety reasons). There are negotiations with local authorities and ministries on how to deal with this situation.

Night shelters and safe houses for women are still open. However, it is very problematic because staff and clients have no safety masks. The use of disinfectants is mandatory.

The shelter in Ljubljana, run by the organisation Krali ulice, received new furniture. A special shelter for homeless people who may be infected with coronavirus is ready if this happens.

More notifications from the Slovenian Early Warning System

Posted on by Milutin

Our colleagues from the Alliance of Non Governmental Organisations for Drugs and Addictions from Slovenia forwarded us more information from the Early Warning System on new psychoactive substances (NPS).

Four different ecstasy pills with a very high MDMA content were detected in Maribor, namely blue Punisher (284 mg MDMA), pink Red Bull (213 mg), brown Pharoh (197 mg) and green Shell (171 mg) pills. Punisher’s blue ecstasy was also detected in Ljubljana and appeared in Slovenj Gradec.

Also, pink ecstasy pills and three other strong ecstasy pills with a very high content of MDMA have recently been detected in Ljubljana.

Literature indicates that the “acceptable” dose of MDMA is 1 – 1.5 mg/kg of body weight. That means that for a person who weighs 60 kg the dose is 60 – 90 mg. In quantities greater than 120 mg, the possibility of complications due to MDMA ingestion is increased (nausea, vomiting, cramping, restlessness and paranoia, severe motor disorders, headache, panic attack, high blood pressure, increased sweating, loss of consciousness, overheating of the body, etc.). 200 or more mg for many people means at least twice the dose in which the adverse effects are greatly increased.

At doses higher than 400 mg, the possibility of death overdose is greatly increased.

Besides MDMA pills, a fake LSD pill was also offered in Maribor. It actually contains synthetic pseudelic 25B-NBOMe, for which little information is available. Users describe that 25B-NBOMe has a hallucinogenic effect already in very small quantities and is very difficult to use safely. They also present a number of side effects, such as: tongue and mouth, nausea, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, agitation, confusion, seizures, fever. A lot of cases of poisoning and fatalities are associated with substances from the group 25-NBOMe. Therefore, extra prudence and compliance with the recommendations for harm reduction are recommended.

Due to the likelihood that these pills will occur in other places around Slovenia and in neighbouring countries, users are advised to use them caution and contact anonymous testing service wherever available.

The samples were collected at the info points of the DrogArt Association in Maribor and Ljubljana within the service of anonymous testing of psychoactive substances. The samples was analysed at the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food.

Drogart advices 6 ways to decrease the possibility of complications when using pills:

  • Always check which pill you have.
  • Try to find as much information as possible about the content of the pill and effects (for example, people who know this pill read current user reports and alerts on the Internet). But be careful – the same look does not necessarily mean the same content.
  • Test the tablet before testing.
  • Start with a quarter or at least a half and wait two hours to see what the effects are.
  • If you decide to redisplay, be careful. This puts more and more burdens on the body, as well as negative effects.
  • Do not mix with other drugs (including alcohol), as this increases the likelihood of complications and overdoses.
  • Drink enough liquid (but not more than 0.5 l per hour), soak enough rest and fresh air.

Fake xanax pill and cocaine with a high content of levamisole

Posted on by Milutin

Several civil society organisations in Slovenia are involved in the Early Warning System, mainly through anonymous drug testing – in Ljubljana: DrogArt and Stigma, in Kranj: Labirint, in Koper: Društvo Svit, in Nova Gorica: Šent, in Celje: JZ Socio, in Maribor: DrogArt and Zdrava pot, in Ptuj: ArsVitae. The new DPNSEE member organisation Alliance of Non Governmental Organisations for Drugs and Addictions from Slovenia sent us an information about drugs. We shall keep publishing these information. South East Europe is very connected region. We invite other our member organisations to share such information because they can be of use for others.

Within the framework of the Early Warning System on new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Slovenia, fake xanax pills and cocaine with high levamisol content were detected in Ljubljana and Maribor.

The results of the analysis, made in the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, showed that the white rectangular tablet with a xanax sign (the one discovered in Maribor is shown at the photo) contains a substance called etizolam instead of alprazolam, while the one found in Maribor contains prometazin and ciproheptadin, medicines used for curing respiratory diseases.

Etizolam belongs to the group of benzodiazepines and is used as an anti-insomnia and anxiety agent. Etisolam causes euphoria, relaxation, carelessness, and side effects are drowsiness, weakness and fatigue, poorer thinking ability and judgment, and loss of control of the body. Especially dangerous is the use of etizolam with other drugs that act depressive on the central nervous system, such as, for example, alcohol, opiates and GHB/GBL. When mixing with other drugs, the effects of the drug are exacerbated and the user can lose consciousness very quickly and stop breathing.

This is the second known case of a false xanax pill – for the first time it detected in October this year.

A sample of cocaine, collected in Ljubljana, contained 22% of levamisole, which is higher than commonly used in cocaine.

Levamisol is a veterinary drug used to treat parasitic infections. For humans, however, it can cause a decrease in the number of white blood cells and a bruising of the immune system, causing an individual to be at greater risk of developing dangerous infections.

Both fake xanax and cocaine pills were purchased in November in Ljubljana from re-sellers. According to users, both substances are to be sold to a wider circle of people.

Both samples were collected the info point of the Association DrogArt in Ljubljana and Maribor, through the anonymous drug testing programme. Due to the likelihood that such samples will occur in other places throughout Slovenia, caution of users is recommended and use the anonymous testing service.

As the Xanax tablets are purchased on Dark net, this information may be of use to drug users and stakeholders in drug policy throughout the region.

Several civil society organisations in Slovenia are involved in the Early Warning System, mainly through anonymous drug testing – in Ljubljana: DrogArt and Stigma, in Kranj: Labirint, in Koper: Društvo Svit, in Nova Gorica: Šent, in Celje: JZ Socio, in Maribor: DrogArt and Zdrava pot, in Ptuj: ArsVitae.

The original communication from the Early Warning System (in Slovenian) is available following this link>>>>