Alarm raised on new and deadly drugs

Police and health authorities fear a new range of deadly, hard-core "recreational" drugs are about to hit WA's party scene after reports of an increased supply in the Eastern States and overseas.

The drugs, tipped to overtake the popularity of ecstasy, are produced from high-grade cleaning products, paint thinners and other chemicals in backyard labs predominantly in England and the United States.

WA Police alcohol and drug co-ordination unit education officer Sgt Gill Wilson said police were on alert for the designer drugs called 2CT-2, 2CT-7, 2CI and TMA-2.

"These substances are quite different than anything else we've seen before," Sgt Wilson said. "These (four) drugs have been identified in Perth through seizures but not in big quantities . . . they're on our radar," Sgt Wilson said.

They sell for about $300-$400 a gram on the internet or from $25 a pill on the street. Causing hallucinations similar to LSD, the drugs' adverse effects include vomiting, seizures and death.

Sgt Wilson said another chemical drug on the radar was 14Butandiol, or CD cleaner, which was metabolised into the deadly party drug GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) which caused respiratory depression, coma and death.

Authorities were also increasingly worried about growing supplies interstate and overseas of GHB, also known as grievous bodily harm or the "date rape drug".

Royal Perth Hospital emergency medicine consultant Dr David McCoubrie said there were a number of cases in WA of psycho-stimulant overdoses where young people had legitimately sourced their drugs from global chemical companies because legislation was unable to keep up with the rate of misuse of chemicals.

Dr McCoubrie said internet chat rooms were rife with hints on how to get the best high and avoid death.

Authorities were not aware of deaths in WA from the new drugs.

Australian Federal Police and Customs confirmed several prohibited chemicals could be bought online.

National Drug Research Institute director Steve Allsop said that with drugs such as GHB, there was a "fine line" between effective dose and overdose, making it far more risky for people to die