MDMA powder to drinks \u201ccarries extra risk\u201d for users.<\/a>\n <\/p>\nThe HSE and the Public Health Agency Northern Ireland have come together in a harm reduction initiative aimed at the thousands of people attending music festivals this summer and possibly taking illegal drugs.<\/p>\n
A recent threat bulletin by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said almost 690 new psychoactive substances (NPS) were reported in 2024, compared to 540 in 2023.<\/p>\n
The top two categories are synthetic forms of cannabis and synthetic cathinones, designed in laboratories to mimic the effects of cocaine and ecstasy.<\/p>\n
As part of the North-South health agencies initiative, a survey conducted by Four Four magazine found that over a third of its readers plan to attend more than five music festivals over the summer. This includes events on both sides of the border, with festivals running from this weekend until the middle of September.<\/p>\n
MDMA and ketamine are the substances most mentioned by survey respondents, with almost three in four citing \u201cpink powders\u201d as the main emerging drug.<\/p>\n
Pink powders, often referred to as \u201cpink cocaine\u201d or \u201cpink tusi\u201d, typically contain multiple substances, with the HSE saying they might include ketamine and new drugs, making them \u201cunpredictable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Prof Eamon Keenan, the HSE\u2019s national clinical lead for addiction services, said: \u201cThis is the first time that both of our health agencies have worked together on an all-island basis around harm reduction responses in the night-time economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith thousands of people from across the island of Ireland expected to travel across the border in both directions to attend festivals this summer, the agencies highlight the increased risk at this time due to high strength MDMA, as well as new drugs that are in circulation such as pink powders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicki Killeen, the HSE’s emerging drug trends manager, said high-strength drugs are an \u201cincreasing concern\u201d across the island of Ireland, Britain, and throughout Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 40% of MDMA (pills, powders, and crystals) analysed by the HSE emerging drug trends lab last year contained over twice the average adult dose (over 200mg),\u201d Ms Killeen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAdding MDMA powders to drinks carries extra risk, and is a concern for the HSE.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said healthcare professionals have raised concerns around the risk of serious bladder damage linked to long-term use of ketamine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s pink, stop and think; pink powders \u2018pink cocaine\u2019 rarely contain cocaine and often include a mixture of ketamine and new drugs, making it unpredictable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Four Four survey comprised of 528 respondents, with feedback from every county, with most engagement from Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Kildare.<\/p>\n
In relation to new drug trends in nightlife, 73% identified pink powders as the main emerging issue, while 27.5% reported that cathinones (mephedrone, 3MMC), reflecting patterns across the rest of Europe.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Hanlon, the joint regional lead for substance use at the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland, said: “Festivals and gigs should be memorable for the right reasons, and we want everyone to enjoy themselves and get home safely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It is, of course, safer not to use drugs at all. However, we know that some people may choose to use substances at festivals, and our priority is to help reduce the possible harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know for sure what you may be taking, and the danger increases if you mix more than one substance. It\u2019s also easy to forget that alcohol itself is a powerful drug, and mixing any drugs\u00a0\u2014 including mixing with alcohol\u00a0\u2014 can be unpredictable and dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Small decisions like drinking water, not mixing substances, and looking after our friends can make a big difference to staying safe.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Health authorities across the island have issued a \u201cjoint warning\u201d to festival goers about high-strength ecstasy and new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[27510,103,2120,61,60],"class_list":["post-471736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-drugs-crisis","tag-health","tag-hse","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}