Dundee drugs workers warn of new legal high Ivory Wave
Drugs workers in Dundee have warned people to stay away from 'Ivory Wave' if it becomes the latest legal high to make a splash in the city.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 11.08.10
- Published online : 11.08.10 @ 02.01pm
Twenty people in Edinburgh were hospitalised last weekend after taking the drug, which is advertised online as bath salts, while large numbers of people were also admitted to accident and emergency in Bournemouth after taking the drug.
Despite being on the market for only a short time, the drugs have already been blamed for causing a range of horrific symptoms in users.
These include nausea, vomiting, loss of bowel control, drowsiness, fits or seizures, kidney failure, muscle damage, anxiety, agitation, hallucinations and paranoia.
The dangerous effects even prompted NHS Lothian to take the unprecedented step of issuing a warning about the drug.
Several online legal high merchants sell Ivory Wave with one gram of the drug going for just under £30.
NHS Tayside and NHS Fife said no patients have come forward with symptoms consistent with Ivory Wave use but warned people not to risk taking it.
Kirsty Licence, a consultant in public health with NHS Tayside, said, "The term 'legal highs' covers a range of products, sold via the internet and other outlets such as plant foods or both salts but actually consumed to achieve a stimulant effect.
"Although legal to be sold in this way, they cannot be sold for human consumption as they have never been tested for that purpose.
"Therefore, just because it is legal to sell certainly does not mean the substance is safe for people to take."
Risks unknown
She added, "Buyers can never be certain of the actual content of the products sold.
"These substances have not been tested on humans, so the effects and the risks of toxicity in the short and long terms are unknown.
"Many of these substances appear to be more harmful when taken with other substances, including other drugs and especially alcohol."
Gareth Balmer, from Dundee drugs charity Addaction, said they had not heard of Ivory Wave being used in Dundee — yet.
He said, "The only people who seem to know what is in this are the people who manufacture it and they don't publish what they put in it.
"My advice would be just not to take it.
"We thought it had the compound MDVP in it — which is a controlled substance — but we don't know for sure."
Attractive to youngsters
Mr Balmer warned that publicity surrounding the drug could make it more attractive to youngsters.
He said, "It appears to be a long-acting stimulant and sales will shoot up because of the advertising.
"You can give warnings but in general people don't believe those.
"My advice would be not to take it all but if you do, take extremely small amounts as we believe it is very strong."
He added, "The ratio of how many people will have a good time to really bad effects is quite large.
"But with drugs like this and mephedrone a lot more people are getting in problems with them.
"They are not particularly attractive drugs that do have a lot of negative effects."
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