Michael White, professor and department head from the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, talks about the dangers associated with the party drug “2C-P.” Police in Middlebury said several concertgoers overdosed on the drugs at an electronic dance music show at Quassy Amusement Park.
Here are some common questions about 2C-P with answers provided by White:
What is 2C-P?
2C-P comes from a family of powerful hallucinogens with stimulant properties. It is usually snorted or smoked. There are more than a dozen varieties from 2C-B all the way to several types of 2C-T. The hallucinations are more vivid and potent than those with ecstasy or “Molly’ products and much more like LSD.
What makes this product so risky?
There are three things. First – there is a delay in onset of action of three hours. So people don’t think it is working and take more or take something else along with it. Secondly, the difference between good and bad effects is only 2 milligrams apart.
Take 6 milligrams and not a lot usually happens, 8 to 10 milligrams and you are more likely to get more pleasant sight and sound hallucinations and a feeling of well-being, doses of 12mg or more is much more likely to give you scary, nightmarish hallucinations. And since it is a stimulant, it can increase blood pressure, make the heart race increasing the risk of heart attack, make arrhythmias more likely, increase body temperature and cause seizures. The terror-inducing hallucinations can make people more likely to do risky things which can result in death or physical injury.
Third, the effects of 2C-P last a long time – like up to 18 hours. So while the effects of “Molly” are wearing off in a few hours, this drug lingers on and on.
So is it just a matter of dose? If you just take 8 to 10 milligrams you are going to be OK?
2C-P is not easy to make and there are many complicated chemical reactions to accomplish along the way. If you don’t do it exactly right you can get a more or less potent product. In addition, look at the graphic about how small this dose is. Ten milligrams of powder is a fraction of the size of a penny so if they don’t measure that dose exactly right (and most standard scales can’t measure doses that small) the 10 milligram dose could be 6 to 16 milligrams and you wouldn’t even know it.
Finally, you have to take the word of someone selling illegal and dangerous drugs that the person who made it, that they may or may not know, didn’t put some other easier to make drug inside that bag intentionally.
What is the best way that parents can stop young people from getting these drugs and taking them at concerts and raves?
The best way is to have them avoid social situations where products like these are being used or to attend clubs, concerts and raves with them. Another option is to talk with them seriously about the risks associated with these drugs and that even if they don’t intend to take them they can be slid into peoples drinks before rapes or robberies.
This serious talk can be effective for many children but peer pressure and the desire to experience the joyful feelings that the person next to you is experiencing can be tough. An approach in the middle is to let your kids go without you but that when they get home, they will get a urine or hair sample and test it for drugs. This is good for detecting many drugs like cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy/molly, opioids like heroin and morphine and PCP but unfortunately, 2C family hallucinogens are not specifically detected by home testing kits.