Phenethylamines

These are strong stimulants and hallucinogens. One drug from this class has been widely used in Europe and the US for several years - Ecstasy, also known as MDMA. Other, newer drugs in this group:

• Bromo-dragonFLY
• Smiles (N-bomb or 251-NBOMe)
• Miley (MDA or 3,4-methylenedioyamphetamine)
• Benzo Fury (6-APB)
• PMA
• PMMA

There are other drugs in this class that are only known only by a number-letter combination:

• 2C-B
• 2C-E
• 2C-T-7

The Health Risks of Phenethylamines

The effects of different drugs in this class vary widely. In general, stimulants speed up the heart and increase the blood pressure. If there are any undiagnosed heart problems, this stress can be fatal.

Of the 2C group of drugs, the stresses from the drug can be incredibly damaging. Just imagine a young person suffering from symptoms like these when all he wanted was to go to a party and have a good time:

• 2C-B: Heart disturbances, confusion, dehydration (which can lead to overheating and organ failure)
• 2C-I: Seizures, confusion, kidney failure, skyrocketing blood pressure
• 2C-T: Panic attacks, vomiting, delirium, amnesia. It is also a central nervous system depressant which may mean that it causes a person to stop breathing or slows the heart to a dangerous or even fatal rate.
• 2C-T-7: Vomiting, headaches, confusion, delirium, high blood pressure.

With some of these drugs, a person may go suffer an intense rigidity of muscles. The muscles of the body may simply freeze up and be unable to let go. If this can’t be remedied, the muscles will break down and flood the body with toxins. This can result in convulsions, coma, kidney failure and death. The chain reaction sometimes cannot be stopped.

Some people have also suffered a stoppage of blood flow to the extremities which caused them to lose fingertips or toes.

When Ecstasy is used in a party or dance club environment, it is known for causing people who are dancing for hours to get dehydrated and overheated. This same chain reaction of organ breakdown has caused many deaths.

When the State of New York banned these substances, they noted that the harm done by these drugs included:

• Agitation
• Violence
• Psychosis
• Self-harm
• Injury to others

The document from legislators in New York also stated that some users were admitted to psychiatric hospitals where they continued to suffer neurological and mental problems after the drugs wore off.

Resources:

• https://www.unodc.org/LSS/SubstanceGroup/Details/275dd468-75a3-4609-9e96-cc5a2f0da467
• http://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/recently_adopted/docs/2013-01-02_synthetic_phenethylamines_and_synthetic_cannabinoids_prohibited.pdf