• Hanna Ovaska, Adie Viljoen, Malgorzata Puchnarewicz, Jenny Button, John Ramsey, David W Holt, Paul I Dargan, and David M Wood.
• Department of Clinical Toxicology, Guy's and St Thomas' Poisons Unit, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Hanna.Ovaska@gstt.nhs.uk
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2008 Dec 1; 15 (6): 354-6.

AbstractRoutine toxicological screening is generally not undertaken in patients with recreational drug toxicity. We report here the benefits of toxicological screening in confirming drugs that have been ingested and potentially detecting drugs that have not previously been reported in the medical literature. In this case, the patient was reported to have ingested a combination of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine and methylenedioxymetamphetamine and developed sympathomimetic toxicity, but on extended toxicological screening he was shown to have actually ingested 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine and methylenedioxymetamphetamine. As 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine is a substituted amphetamine, it is covered under the generic Misuse of Drugs act (1971) in the UK; although in the majority of the EU it remains uncontrolled, as there is no similar generic drug legislation. We believe that discrepancies in the legal status of recreational drugs in the EU limit the effectiveness of drug enforcement policies and that EU drug legislation should be harmonized to ensure consistency.

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