The controversial designer drug 3-mmc has been on the list of banned soft drugs since today and is therefore officially banned, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) confirms. With the ban, the outgoing cabinet wants to discourage the use of 3-mmc and limit its availability. According to State Secretary Blokhuis, there is an increase in the use of 3-mmc, especially among young people, and an increase in the number of health incidents. In addition to the ban, the ministry also focuses on information and prevention.
The designer drug is on list 2 of the Opium Act. It generally lists less dangerous drugs than List 1, which lists drugs with an unacceptable risk to public health. Not enough is known about the magnitude and danger of 3-mmc use to put the drug on list 1.
The party drug 3-mmc often appears in the Veluwe, in the Achterhoek and in Amsterdam, and has already caused victims among young people there. At the beginning of this year, 14-year-old Pepijn Remmers died in Amsterdam from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning in combination with 3-mmc.
Clear signal
“With this ban, we are counteracting the simple availability of 3-mmc and we are sending a clear signal to the often young users: this stuff is dangerous, stay away from it,” State Secretary Blokhuis said in a statement. “We didn’t want to wait a moment longer with this, given the worrying signals we received about 3-mmc. At the same time, there is a broader problem with designer drugs. We can no longer lag behind in this regard and will therefore proceed to a broad ban on designer drugs as soon as possible.”
The cabinet says it is working on a broader ban on designer drugs. When an individual designer drug is banned under the Opium Act, it is still possible for drug manufacturers to make a new drug with a slightly different composition, so that that new drug can legally be put on the market again. This will be stopped with the designer drug ban, which brings entire groups of substances with the same basic chemical structure under the Opium Act.
10 euros per gram
The effect of 3-mmc is similar to cocaine, yet the substance did not fall under the prohibited substances in the Opium Act. 3-mmc is the successor to the already banned substance 4-mmc, also known as ‘meow meow’. Known health risks include cardiac arrhythmias, elevated blood pressure or body temperature, and agitation.
3-mmc is usually sold as a crystal-like white powder and can be swallowed, snorted or injected. Since 2012, the stuff has been legally available online and in smart shops, in pill, powder or crystal form, for about 10 euros per gram. Users feel alert, euphoric and energized and they feel the need to connect and talk more. They also experience more self-confidence, according to the Jellinek clinic.
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