By Lucía Tedesco via El Planteo
Recent events worldwide suggest a disturbing rise in illegal drugs marked with Nazi symbols. These pills have surfaced in France, Iceland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as well as Argentina and Peru.
X user Dr. Zoë Dubus recently exposed the situation, offering her professional perspective as a historian focused on psychedelics. “Yesterday, a member of the French Psychedelic Society, who works in a harm reduction association in western France, sent us this, which is starting to circulate in France, and has also been spotted since,” she wrote, attaching a photo showing a pill with a Nazi symbol.
‘Nazi Drugs’ Popping Up Around The World
In 2015, Icelandic authorities discovered ecstasy pills marked with swastikas, causing immediate alarm among the population. According to Grapevine, these pills not only symbolized a message of hate but also represented a real danger to users due to their unknown and potentially lethal contents.
In Argentina, in 2017, police arrested a trafficker in Buenos Aires with 7,900 doses of LSD in blotter form, marked with swastikas. This case exposed not only the extent of the problem in Latin America but also the connection between drug trafficking and extremist movements. Diario Popular reported the arrest, highlighting the severity of the situation. A photo taken by the police also suggested the smuggler might have been dealing with 2C-B.
Shortly after, in 2018, Drugs Data published an analysis of pills found in Austria bearing the infamous Gestapo “SS” symbol. Testing revealed that these high-concentration pills contained 133 mg of MDMA.
A more contemporary case occurred in Germany in 2022, where ecstasy pills with Nazi symbols were found. Instead of containing MDMA, the pills were adulterated with LSD, as reported by Fazemag. This finding adds an additional level of risk, as users might not be prepared for the psychedelic effects or potential LSD overdoses.
That same year, light green swastika-marked pills were found in Switzerland. According to testing by Drugs Data and Safer Party, these contained 178 mg of MDMA.
The most recent Nazi-branded drug (prior to the mentioned 2024 eagles) was a batch of cocaine seized in Peru at the port of Paita in 2023. Infobae reported that more than 50 kilos of cocaine were found, with packages marked with a swastika. Inside these packages, the drug blocks had the word "Hitler" stamped on them.
Risky Drugs
The frequently found pills, although promising to be MDMA or LSD, contain 2C-B and 2C-H, phenethylamines that can cause intense and hard-to-manage hallucinogenic effects. Saferparty warns that these drugs are particularly dangerous due to the difficulty in dosing them correctly, which can lead to overdoses and extremely negative experiences. Furthermore, the presence of impurities increases the risk for consumers.
The appearance of these drugs in the market has legal implications but also social ones. Using Nazi symbols on substances promotes hate propaganda. "So no, psychedelics aren’t going to change the world. And there are increasingly powerful groups threatening our societies. People who use these products to consolidate their fascist ideology, to feel more united, more legitimate. It’s terrifying," Dubus stated on social media.
Editor’s Note: The cover photo does not show a real pill and was used for illustrative purposes only.
This article is from an external unpaid contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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