The Mitsubishi print is one of the most well known presses of ecstasy tablet, dating back to the 1990s when MDMA first became popular. Many batches of the tablets have been produced over the years in varying quality but generally at the lower end of the spectrum because sophisticated manufacturers do not want their products tainted by the hit-and-miss reputation of the logo.

This year brings nothing different, and the Spanish testing service, Energy Control, have detected a green mitsubishi pill which contains a cathinone stimulant called a-PVP with no trace of MDMA. This is easily detected with reagent tests as a-PVP gives no colour change for the reagents in the MDMA test multipack whereas MDMA goes black with all three.

a-PVP* is a stimulant and does give energy like MDMA but the comparisons pretty much stop there. It is most similar to cocaine but has a much longer uncomfortable “tail” after the main high ends and a much higher chance of causing paranoia. The lack of enjoyable effects can easily lead to people taking a couple because they’re getting something and think it’s just a weak pill but this can result in sleep being prevented for much longer than MDMA would, and this sleep deprivation can further feed into the risk of paranoia and psychosis.

You can see the image Energy Control provided below. The tablet is 4.9mm thick and 9.9mm wide with a mass of 422 mg. The amount of a-PVP inside is not known.

You can see the original post by Energy Control in Spanish here.

This is a great reason why trying to determine what’s in a pill by asking if people have taken one with the same design is really never a good idea. a-PVP may not be common but counterfeiting is rife and it only takes a couple of months for fakes to emerge – this is why pill logos change so often, so that sophisticated manufacturers don’t have their reputations hurt by dodgy bedroom presses.

*a-PVP is sometimes called “flakka” by american media but this appears to have been made up by the media and has also been used to describe other stimulants.

Edit: We have also detected purple and pink Heisenberg pills with pentylone in them. Avoiding this press completely is recommended.

The beige Heisenberg tablets currently available contain NO MDMA but instead contain pentylone, a synthetic cathinone stimulant.

The pills will react bright yellow with the marquis reagent, whereas MDMA goes black so these ones are easy to spot as rubbish.

Pentylone is slightly like mephedrone but lasts longer and is much less enjoyable.
Because it is less enjoyable but does have an effect, people tend to think they just have weak pills and need to take more to get the buzz they want. This results in a very high dose of pentylone, which prevents sleep for hours after it wears off, and along with its stimulant effects can cause paranoia and psychosis, as well as totally ruining your night.

Pentylone is class B in the UK.

For the second time in two weeks, Manchester police have issued a warning about high strength MDMA pills circulating in manchester after two women in their twenties collapsed early on Saturday morning.

The police say the pills concerned are the “lego brick” tablets and posted the photo on the left. Sadly this is another low quality image which appears to have come from social media! There are currently two DIFFERENT types of lego brick pill on the market so this is a bit of a problem, and the police have not released any analysis of what’s in the pills.

With that said, both variations of the pill are professionally pressed, and likely to be very strong. In addition to this, both types are quite new, with the “other” press (pictured below) being listed as over 200mg of MDMA. Again, this is extremely strong, with a typical dose of MDMA being 130mg.

What can we learn from this? It appears to be another case of illness due to large amounts of MDMA in hot environments so:

• Use the #CrushDabWait technique to avoid a strong pill or powder taking you by surprise.
• Know your drug – using an MDMA reagent test is a really good warning sign of dodgy pills or powders, especially for £15
• Know your dose – if you aren’t using #CrushDabWait, make sure you know how much is in the pill, or how much powder you are taking. Scales are cheap, brains are not!
• Avoid taking other drugs at the same time – this can really complicate things and make it hard to know how much is too much. This includes alcohol – keep it to a couple of drinks.
• Stay cool – take regular breaks from the dancefloor to cool down for 5 minutes. Have a chat in the smoking area ;)
• Hydrate sensibly – take sips of cold water, drink a sensible amount for the activity you are doing. MDMA makes you feel constantly thirsty but stops you peeing, so you can “dilute” your blood dangerously.
• Stay with your friends – they know you, and if you’re looking in a bad way they’ll be able to sort you out and keep you safe.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help – the medics are not the police, will not call the police and are usually incredibly friendly. No matter what, they WILL keep you safe.

CheckIt! result for possibly related two-notch lego pill.
Manchester police press release. (Facebook link)
Reddit discussions on 4-notch lego blocks: 1, 2

Edit: there is a better photo of the two-notch lego brick pills here

Following the death of a 17 year-old girl in manchester at the weekend, Greater Manchester Police have issued a warning about the “Mastercard” ecstasy believed to be responsible. They have accompanied this with a photo of the affected batch, which do appear to show the popular pills. Accompanied is a professional image from pillreports.net for comparison.

These have been analysed by several organisations who report that they contain around 200mg¹ of MDMA. A typical single-dose of MDMA for a teenage girl would be under 100mg, which makes these a really strong pill. The police do not comment further on the matter but it seems likely that this is a tragic case of overdose from the extreme strength of the pills, most likely compounded in a hot environment.

You can buy an MDMA test kit here to help inform you about pills and powders, but please always remember to use the #CrushDabWait method when using a new batch, even if you have already tested them. Knowing they are strong or contain something dangerous doesn’t help if people still drop 5 at once!

The Daily Star is reporting that “Chupa Chups” stamped ecstasy tablets with PMA are circulating in the UK.

An anonymous source is reported to have sent the tip-off claiming the pink tablets are stamped with the brand name.

Though red Chupa Chups tablets have been circulating for some time, a recent round, pink chupa chup pill has also recently surfaced and has had a questionable reputation from the get-go.
Pictured below, courtesy of pillreports.net, the submitter suspects the contents are MDxx + PMA/PMMA.

The more popular red Chupa Chups pills have contained MDMA for some time and have a “flower” style outline with a stylised Chupa Chups logo. Users are being urged to exercise extra caution until more information is known – uncorroborated tabloid rumors can turn out to be just that, but for the cost of a few pills it might be worth picking up an MDMA testing kit just in case, regardless of the pill logo.

If you do find yourself taking a pill without testing it first, remember to #CrushDabWait – this will reduce the risks no matter what’s in it, be it strong MDMA or PMA.

Sources:
http://www.mixmag.net/read/dangerous-chupa-chups-pills-are-circulating-the-uk-news/
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/503749/Lethal-ecstasy-pills-Chupa-Chups-logo-flood-Britain-unsafe-illegal-drugs-MDMA-PMA