The authorities are on alert circulation of an ecstasy pillknown as EA SportstsWhat is it investigated for having contributed to the death of a 28-year-old who attended an electronica party last weekend. This is being analyzed by the Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the case, and the Forensic Technical Institute (ITF).
Meanwhile, the National Drug Board (JND) warned this Saturday for the consumption of these pills, light blue and white and with the EA Sports logo engraved.
“We warn and urge you to avoid the consumption of this tablet and reinforce attention regarding symptoms and manifestations expressed by people who are under the influence of this type of substance,” he said in a statement.
This drug, not yet officially linked to the young man’s death, contains the chemical MDAa component with a “small chemical difference” to that commonly seen in ecstasy, MDMAreported the JND toxicologist Alba Negrín in an interview with Así nos va (Radio Carve).
Héctor Suárez, coordinator of the National Drug Observatory, explained to The Observer that this chemical difference leads to “some different effects” between both substances: a pill with MDA is usually “less empathetic and more stimulating”. Negrín, for his part, explained that the component causes “more visual hallucinations” and “more muscle tension“than MDMA.
In addition, the toxicologist explained that both chemical components “are of cardiovascular accumulation”which implies that its consumption can lead to a “heart attack” or a “severe arrhythmia”. Its effect on serotonin can also lead to a “poor regulation of body temperature”added the member of the JND.
However, measuring the general effects of this type of drug is difficult because drugs that contain components such as MDA “they are not industrial”so in its manufacture the pills may contain “different doses” leading to “different effects”explained the coordinator of the Observatory.
Negrín stated that even if the same pill is divided “into two parts” it is not possible to know if both contain the same concentration of drug. “It’s never the same pill despite the fact that they have the same logo, the same color, and are purchased from the same distributor,” he assured.
“Users do not know what they consume, they buy ecstasy and then what they put on them is another mixture”, lamented Suárez, who indicated that this causes it to be “difficult to establish the prevalence” of drugs of this style in the population because its users “They don’t know what they are consuming.”
In any case, Suárez explained that 2% of the population consume pills of this stylewith a special prevalence in the middle class, upper middle class of Montevideo.
The presence of EA Sports had already been warned by the JND: the National Observatory received reports from “Buenos Aires and Brazil” about clinical cases in which this pill was involvedand in Uruguay “Unusual effects had already been perceived” in different patients who had consumed it.
The coordinator explained that the JND works with the Drug Early Warning System (SATDrogas), which works with security agencies such as the Police and Prefecture, research centers such as the Faculty of Chemistry and different health centers, to warn seizures and clinical situations related to drugs. Through that system The warning for the EA Sports pill arrivedwhich later led to the statement published last Saturday.
