DOI - Doh!

New drug doing the rounds (again)

While the media was frothing over the reclassification of methamphetamine, four people were admitted to hospital in Bedfordshire following ingestion of an unknown substance.

The Media were quick to report this as being due to a "new drug" called DOI or D09.

The Beds police were a little more cautious saying "Speaking to other party-goers at the scene, officers were told that the two men may have taken a drug called DO1, DOI or DO9."

Importantly, it has not been verified that the people in question had indeed taken DOI, or what they believed to be DOI. No independent toxicology reports have been made available at this time, so the suggestion that the substance involved is DOI is highly speculative.

Having said that, other sources have noted some availability of DOI - especially amongst communities with a keen interest in hallucinogens and stimulants. These sources suggest that there is at least a batch of DOI doing the rounds. This, they speculate, may have been a UK based chemist who has cooked up this batch, or an imported batch from an overseas chemist. This would seem more credible than DOI becoming more popular as a rave drug.

DOI is short for 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine

It was one of a number of compounds developed by Alexander Shulgin and listed in Pikhal. It binds strongly to various serotonin receptors and has been widely used as a research chemical to help identify the location of these receptors.

It is a powerful and long-lasting hallucinogen. Sources suggest periods of effect as long as sixteen hours, with a similar level of hallucinatory effect to LSD, but with the user also feeling more active.

It has not proved hugely popular as the hallucinogenic effects last a long time, and are not that good compared to other, shorter acting, more readily available compounds.

Dose ranges are small - 1-3mg. People undertaking experimental use in controlled conditions have typically had it in refined, powder form for carefull self-administration - e.g. snorting.

Generally such low-demand research chemicals would be in pure powder form for the user to dose at their own level, knowing exactly how much they were taking.

A source from Milton Keynes says that the DOI taken at these events was in tablet form,as E's would be.

no literature is clear on risks and none mention risk of convulsions, though, as this is an amphetamine-type compound this risk is not inconceivable. This would be especially hazardrous at high doses.

Suspicion is at this time that it could be (a) real DOI and some users have taken massive doses, not knowing its strength or (b) it's poorly made DOI with some additives of unknown type/action or (c) it's not really DOI at all but some unknown compound knocked up and flogged to users at a rave (d) it's MDMA or another E-type compound with DOI or something similar in their too, to increase the trippiness...

If you have anything to add please email so we can keep people informed...

Beds Police
BBC
Wikipedia on DOI
LEDA on DOI

[thanks to Carly for bringing this one to my attention]