MDMA, "pink cocaine" and stimulants: how synthetic drugs are circulating in Greece
Synthetic drugs of unknown composition pose a fatal risk, warns the head of the Drug Prosecution Sub-Directorate. "Pink cocaine" and MDMA are gaining ground through the post and the darknet.
Synthetic drugs: "It could be a poison that will kill them on the spot"
A serious warning about the dangers of synthetic drugs is being issued by Giannis Karydakos, director of the Drug Prosecution Sub-Directorate of the Organised Crime Counter-Action Directorate. According to In.gr, Karydakos spoke to APA-MPE about the spread of synthetic substances and the manner in which they reach users' hands.
"A person who takes this drug has no idea what's inside it," Karydakos states. The preparation of synthetic substances requires chemical synthesis, whilst the conditions of production and the identity of the manufacturers remain unclear. The user consumes substances without knowing either the active ingredients or their proportions. "A dangerous product is created that we don't know what it contains, nor under what conditions it was made and by whom," he points out.
When authorities seize such substances, they send them to the General Chemical State Laboratory for laboratory analysis. The user, by contrast, has no way of knowing exactly what they are buying. "It could be a poison that will kill them on the spot," Karydakos warns.
MDMA and stimulants: from battlefields to clubs
The most common synthetic drugs in Greece are stimulants, with MDMA at the top, known as "ecstasy". Karydakos recalls that the use of stimulants is not a contemporary phenomenon: methamphetamine was widely dispensed to German armed forces during the Second World War under the name Pervitin, as it reduced fatigue and enhanced soldiers' alertness.
"Methamphetamine gives a person enormous energy and removes their inhibitions," Karydakos explains. Later, substances such as MDMA became associated with nightlife entertainment and the rave music scene, enabling prolonged physical activity without the user noticing fatigue in time.
MDMA use poses serious risks: dangerous elevation of body temperature, cardiovascular complications and disruption of the body's fluid balance. The risks are intensified when the substance is taken in an unknown dose or combined with other substances.
"Pink cocaine": popular, but variable composition
Karydakos makes particular reference to the so-called "pink cocaine", also known as "tusi" or "tuci". This substance is not cocaine, but a mixture of synthetic ingredients that varies from batch to batch.
"What we see a lot of is the so-called pink cocaine, which is not cocaine, it is a synthetic drug and it has been very popular in our country over the last one to two years," he says. Different substances are found in different samples, a fact which makes the effects unpredictable and the risks to the user increased.
Distribution: post, applications and darknet
Regarding distribution methods, Karydakos points out that postal shipments constitute one of the main routes of entry for synthetic substances into Greece, usually in small quantities. At the same time, prosecution authorities have identified cases of distribution via internet communication applications. The darknet allows for the ordering of illegal substances using digital currencies.
As principal countries of production Karydakos names the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and the Czech Republic, from where the substances that reach the Greek market originate. The last synthetic drug laboratory detected in Greece was in Corinth in the early 2000s. The domestic market continues to be characterised mainly by the distribution of traditional drugs — cannabis, cocaine and heroin.
Fentanyl: surveillance without panic
Regarding fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that constitutes a major public health problem in countries such as the United States, Karydakos states that his service has not so far detected comparable spread in Greece. He notes, however, that experience from other countries makes continuous monitoring of developments in drug distribution necessary.
Karydakos estimates that Greece is not at the same level of spread of synthetic drugs as other European countries, but acknowledges that trends from abroad gradually influence the domestic market.
Source: In.gr