Psychedelia.dk

http://www.talkingdrugs.org/questioning-the-authenticity-of-nrg1

In the past 18 months the numbers of people using research chemicals as recreational drugs has skyrocketed. Now widely available on the internet, the research chemical market for recreational drug use has boomed, the market now being a multi-million pound industry. The surge in the popularity of mephedrone, the poor quality of already established banned substances and a lack of legal coherence concerning the status of these research chemicals are all contributing factors to the increased use of research chemicals. However, since the re-classification of mephedrone, curious recreational users have been increasing using a variety of other research chemicals with relatively unknown consequences.

The amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act in April which made the majority of derivatives of Cathinone, class B controlled substances. Since then, a number of other branded products have emerged. Of the research chemicals that are still widely available online, one which has been widely discussed is NRG1. Recent analysis of a batch of NRG1 bought off an internet vendor by the drugs information site http://www.drugs-forum.com has been carried out by with some troubling answers. The batch tested using the usual pill-testing reagents found that one of the main constituents of the batch was methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) in addition to an unidentified putative methcathinone derivative, while the analysis produced no data supporting the presence of the compound naphthylpyrovalerone (NRG1) which is reported to be main ingredient.

This distinction is very important, as MDPV is already a controlled substance in the United Kingdom and several other European countries. Therefore, those who possess and distribute NRG1 have to be aware that they may in fact be possessing and distributing a class B substance. Though some batches of analysed NRG1 do contain naphthylpyrovalerone, and as such would be legal to possess and distribute, it is very difficult to be able to accurately distinguish between the compounds that make up the substance. Research carried out by the “Association of Chief Police Officers” in Scotland further supports this analysis, with their research showing all tested batches of substances that are supposedly NRG1, actually contained the class B substance MDPV.

This ambiguity raises the issue that distributors are likely to be using brand names like NRG1 to market other research chemicals to unknowing consumers. Therefore, the various batches under the name NRG1 should really be avoided until there is clearer evidence of chemical structure of the product. The lack of morals on behalf of the chemical manufacturers and a lack of quality control by the wholesalers is a worrying trend developing in the research chemicals market, and as such, the claim that NRG1 as a legal high would be free from any prosecution should be ignored as it is likely to contain already banned substances.

Those involved in the testing, development and using of research chemicals were traditionally very knowledgeable about the substances they were using. However, the arrival of mephedrone on the research chemical scene, the lack of availability and quality of traditionally popular recreational drugs and the media hype surrounding mephedrone meant people were buying and using research chemicals with almost no understanding of what they were taking. As the opportunity for considerable profits became more apparent, new, unreseached and untested chemicals have been marketed in the same fashion as mephedrone. The lack of consistency in the batches analysed suggest users must be extremely careful about what research chemicals they are taking and resist taking substances from unknown and unverified distributors.