An even more dangerous version of the drug ecstasy which has been circulating in Europe is threatening to enter the Dublin drugs scene.
A number of seizures of the drug, paramethoxyamphetamine or PMA, which looks identical to the ecstasy tablet, have been made in Europe. The British National Criminal Intelligence Service yesterday confirmed some had been made in Britain. The drug has not been detected in recent seizures in Ireland.
The drug is released more slowly into the system than regular ecstasy. This could lead a person to believe a tablet is having no effect and take another.
Dr Jim Donovan, head of the forensic laboratory at Garda headquarters, said foreign intelligence had warned of the drug's existence, and batches of ecstasy would now be tested to ensure they were not the new variant.
"The drug is not all that different from ecstasy, but its effects are delayed. Someone may take one and not much will happen, but its effects are strong once it hits," he said.
"When people buy these drugs they think they are all the same, but they're not."
Chief Supt Ted Murphy, head of the National Drugs Unit, confirmed that no seizures of this type of drug had been made in Ireland.
He said an early-warning system, incorporating a multi-agency response by gardai and the Department of Health, would come into effect if any new drugs danger was identified.
"Only when a drug is analysed will we be able to say what is in it and what danger it could be," he said.
He said ecstasy was the second most popular illegal drug in Ireland after cannabis, with cocaine ranking third.
Mr Tomas Hallberg, director of European Cities Against Drugs, a campaign group based in Stockholm, yesterday said he was not surprised by the possible dangers of the new variant.
He said young people perceived ecstasy as a safe drug, which had led to the growth of a large market for the drug all over Europe.