Killer ‘dance drug’ set for EU-wide ban

Date: 11/02/1999

By Myles Neligan

A DANGEROUS new 'dance drug' looks set to be the first recreational narcotic to be declared illegal as a result of cooperation between national governments and Union agencies.

The synthetic compound known as 4MTA has already claimed the lives of three youngsters in EU countries Member state officials are expected to give the go-ahead for experts from the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) to assess the precise health risks it poses when they meet on 24 February. This will pave the way for EU justice ministers to decide whether or not to introduce a Union-wide ban later in the year.

Although any decision to outlaw the substance across the whole of the Union would require the unanimous approval of ministers from all 15 member states, EU officials say that the drug's reputation should ensure that all governments support moves to halt its spread. "In the case of 4MTA, I can see no other outcome," said one.

If ministers do agree to take joint action against 4MTA, those countries which have not already done so would have to criminalise the substance under national law.

This would make 4MTA, also known as 'flatliners', the first substance to be controlled under Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Anita Gradin's joint action programme on synthetic drugs, endorsed by EU governments in June 1997.

The initiative calls on the EMCDDA to alert all national governments when a new synthetic drug appears on the market in any EU country, and sets out a procedure for governments to agree joint measures to crack down on its use.

The UK and Belgium, where the use of 4MTA is most widespread and where the deaths associated with it so far have occurred, are campaigning for action at EU level. Germany is also keen to push through measures to combat illegal drug use before its six-month stint in charge of Union business comes to an end in June.

Ministers failed to agree on moves to ban another new synthetic drug, known as MBDB, last year, with Luxembourg and the Netherlands arguing that the substance was not sufficiently widely used to justify action at EU level.

The latest substance to come under the spotlight, like many other new synthetic drugs, has stayed one step ahead of the law in most countries because its chemical formula differs slightly from established drugs which have already been declared illegal.

The EMCDDA drew governments' attention to its growing popularity in early January, following reports of 4MTA-related deaths in the UK and Belgium late last year.

"4MTA is dangerous. It is considerably more toxic than Ecstasy, especially when taken with alcohol," said one EMCDDA official.