PMA and PMMA - Reactions with Other Drugs or Substances

Reactions with Other Drugs or Substances

Because PMA is sold on the illicit, or illegal, drug market as ecstasy, it is not deliberately used recreationally in its pure form. PMA is usually found in combination with ecstasy, and ecstasy users often take others drugs at the same time. Such drugs include LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), GHB, ketamine, and nitrous oxide. (Entries on all of these drugs are available in this encyclopedia.) Ecstasy is also used with marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and the prescription drug Viagra. The risk of overdose or death is greatly increased when mixing PMA with these other drugs or with alcohol or caffeine. Small doses of PMA that are not normally lethal become deadly in the presence of these other drugs.

As with all drugs, the strength and quality of PMA pills may differ greatly from one batch to another. Different pills may contain varying amounts of the drug. Moreover, the secret labs that make these drugs are often very dirty, and the pills they produce may contain many dangerous chemicals in addition to PMA.

An example of PMA poisoning in the presence of other drugs is a victim who died in the late 1990s. She died after ingesting what she believed to be an ecstasy tablet. Testing of her blood revealed high but not deadly levels of PMA, coupled with the prescription drug Prozac. (Information on Prozac can be found in the entry on antidepressants in this encyclopedia.) Ecstasy was not detected in her blood samples at all. Drug users often abuse Prozac to enhance the energizing effects of ecstasy. This patient died from a brain hemorrhage despite the low levels of PMA she had taken.