Anyone who buys ‘party drugs’ in Vienna is now endangering their health even more than has always been the case with drug use. Additives and the degree of purity are becoming increasingly unpredictable, warns the advice center “checkit!”. Seven percent of the samples examined were immediately dangerous to health.
The fact that you can test purchased substances anonymously, confidentially and free of charge at checkit!, the competence center for recreational drugs of the Addiction Assistance Center Vienna, also gives the examiners a deep insight into the state of the drug market in Vienna – namely “increasingly more complex”, says laboratory manager Anton Luf: Only two-thirds of all samples examined contained the expected ingredients, not to mention the expected purity.
Very pure and at the same time very stretched in circulation
What makes drug use even riskier can easily be explained using cocaine as an example: it is currently in circulation in the city both in a very pure form and with many adulterants, even from the same dealer. As a result, the consumer hardly knows how many drugs a consumer actually consumes. Not only does this mean the risk of overdoses, but the inhumane nature of the drug trade is also reflected in the type of adulterants used.
Every sixth ecstasy tablet carries a high risk
The situation is no different with the other drugs tested: with speed/amphetamines, about half of the samples contained 25 percent active ingredients, but the other half contained 75 percent. Pure caffeine is used as a prolonger, which, together with the active ingredients, carries the risk of overloading the circulatory system. With ecstasy, the content of active substances increased significantly, as did the number of completely different substances found in the samples: one in six samples was directly dangerous to health.
Substances whose consequences no one knows yet
In addition, there is the growing market for NPS (“New Psychoactive Substances”), synthetic drugs newly manufactured in drug laboratories. In the samples tested in 2023 alone, 71 different new substances were found, some of which cannot yet be assessed for their effects. NPS were also found in many samples that buyers had purchased as ecstasy, speed or other known substances.
check it out! worry less. This is mainly attributed to the return of the party scene after the Covid years and to more capacity: in three pharmacies in Vienna you can now also provide medicine samples. Checkit is even more important! But for the prevention of addiction: drug testing should above all be a door opener to enter into consultations with users who are usually outside the drug world.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
