By Chelsea McLean British Drugs Start	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
イギリスの危険なドラッグが流行 先月6日、筆者の家の近くのダンスクラブで若者たち10人が次々と倒れ、意識不明の重体に陥る事件がありました。原因は「デザイナードラッグ」と呼ばれる麻薬の飲み過ぎで、オーストラリアにおける麻薬問題の深刻さを象微するような事件でした。

A new designer drug from Britain known as Fantasy has been blamed for the near death of 10 young Australians who collapsed outside a Gold Coast club during an all night dance party Oct. 6.

Ambulance officers who arrived at the popular B3 club at around 7 a.m. that Sunday morning said it was like a bomb scene. They found bodies lying on and alongside the road and other people stumbling over them and passing out. Doctors say eight of the victims, five men and three women aged between 19 and 30, would have died without immediate life support.

Fantasy is the latest designer drug to make its way to Australia from Britain's rave party scene. It is a combination of the anesthetic agent Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate (GHB) and the amphetamine-based "love drug" Ecstasy.

Ecstasy and Fantasy are called designer drugs because they are considered fashionable and trendy among users who usually come from a high socio-economic background. They come in a powdered or liquid form and are usually mixed into drinks at night clubs and parties for one time "highs" by people who end up playing Russian roulette with their lives.

Users say the loud "techno" music is at the heart of this new sub-culture. A mass of bodies pulsating to the beat under bright flashing lights in a dark underground room are the images associated with the rave scene.

The B3 club was situated near a beach-side shopping mall only five kilometers from where I live. It has since been closed down, but other clubs just like it continue to operate in discreet locations.

A dance party promoter who worked at the B3 club said Fantasy had been available there for at least eight years. Investigative journalists also discovered Fantasy in a Melbourne school yard where it is endangering the lives of students who can buy it for as little as A$20 (¥1,780). The police said they were monitoring rave parties and night clubs through their drug squad, but they didn't even know the drug existed in Australia.

The widespread use of Ecstasy, contained in the drug Fantasy, had already been recognized as a problem in Australia. It made nation-wide headlines in the media late last year after claiming the life of a 15-year-old Sydney schoolgirl.

An article was even published in Queensland's leading newspaper the day before the tragedy at the B3 club warning people about the dangers of Ecstasy. The article said the drug is gaining popularity with young people because it is available for as little as A$60 (¥5,340) a tablet.

British tourists have been caught attempting to smuggle Ecstasy tablets into Australia. More than 250,000 tablets with a street value of A$2.5 million (¥222.5 million) have been seized at Brisbane International Airport recently.

GHB has also received international media attention as the drug thought to have killed young Hollywood actor River Phoenix at a Los Angeles nightclub in October 1993.

Bond University criminologist Paul Wilson said such drugs are particularly appealing to people with "risk-taking personalities." "It is a chance for a person to show themselves and their friends that they are fearless. The danger adds to the high," he said.

The Queensland Government made Fantasy illegal immediately after the Gold Coast incident at the B3 club in an attempt to stop such a serious tragedy from happening again. There are now severe penalties of up to 20 years jail for producing, selling or possessing more than two grams of any designer drug. Publishing recipes on the Internet can bring a prison sentence of up to 15 years. The government has also established a task force to control the rave dance party industry.

Not enough emphasis has been put on the dangers of drug use. The Gold Coast incident has sounded a strong warning to young Australians about how dangerous drugs really are. It will scare some people away from drugs, but other people will always take the risk. The only way to protect the lives of young people is to educate them about the dangers involved in drugs and hope they have the good judgment to make an informed choice.

Shukan ST: Nov. 8, 1996

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