Acid makes a comeback as MDMA quality drops

A drop in the quality of ecstasy has prompted NSW partygoers to switch to LSD.

A survey by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre shows nearly half of the regular ecstasy users questioned in NSW have used LSD in the past year.

Drug Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham said, “It is possible the current low cost and high quality of LSD combined with the current low purity of MDMA may be drawing users to this commodity in NSW.”

Community Program Manager of the NSW Users & AIDS Association (NUAA) Sione Crawford said it wasn’t surprising that when people are faced with unregulated or unsafe MDMA, they may move to another drug they perceive to be of better quality.

“Prohibition inevitably leads to the production of unsafe, unregulated drugs,” Sione said.

A 21 year-old Sydney dealer told the City Hub that LSD is easily obtained and is gaining popularity amongst university students.

“The attraction to LSD is that it can’t be easily detected, so it’s easy to carry into festivals and it’s also cheaper than ecstasy,” he said.

A tab of LSD costs up to $15, making it more affordable than the popular ecstasy pills that can cost up to $35. But the anonymous source says he also takes LSD because of the unique “fun factor” of the hallucinogen.

Superintendent Bingham explained this attraction to the drug. “LSD is a strong psychedelic drug that can enhance colour and patterns and can create bizarre hallucinations,” Bingham said.

“Someone takes it to get right off their head to see hot pink elephants flying around or purple aliens flying in a helicopter.”

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research says charges involving LSD and other hallucinogens have risen by 28 per cent since October 2005.

“But the rate of detection [for LSD] is still very low in comparison to other illicit drug types,” Superintendent Bingham said.

BY SHARI NEMENTZIK