| AP Photo |
| They wanted to make a Palin version, but it stopped working halfway through the trip. |
​Police in Palmview, Texas last week seized a batch of reputed Ecstasy pills made in the image of President Barack Obama, Ryan Smith reports on CBS’ Crimesider blog.
A stash of the orange tablets was found last Monday during a south Texas traffic stop.
The 22-year-old driver had a drug collection of Hunter S. Thompson-esque proportions. Found in the car were black tar heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, along with the supposed Obama Ecstasy. He’s expected to face multiple felony drug possession charges.
Ecstasy, more properly known as MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), is a popular party and couples drug due to the feelings of empathy, euphoria, and stimulation experienced by users.
And that would be fine, if we had a regulated (as in legal) framework for its distribution. But since we don’t, the specter of adulterants and outright frauds is always present — including in this case, apparently, according to Seattle alternative newspaper The Stranger.
| Photo: Joe Mabel |
| The Stranger‘s Dominic Holden scooped the national media on the real story: Obama “Ecstasy” conains no MDMA |
​Journalist’s journalist Dominic Holden reported that the pills in question may contain no Ecstasy at all.
Ecstasydata.org, which tests the composition of pills sold as Ecstasy around the United States, listed the ingredients of pills earlier this year matching the description of the Obama tablets. That analysis found three other drugs instead of Ecstasy — at least two of which were probably more dangerous than MDMA itself.
The drugs present in the Obama pills tested were benzylpiperazine (BZP), an amphetamine-like stimulant, trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP), sometimes sold as “Legal X”; and caffeine.
Since BZP “can prove deadly in certain circumstances,” it’s definitely a case of let the buyer beware. Thank drug prohibition for any uncertainty.
While the pills found in Texas weren’t the ones tested, they do appear to be identical, and chances are they contain the same adulterants and/or substitutes rather than true MDMA.