Like all heavy stimulants, MDMA and meth carry with them a risk of overdose. Most commonly, adverse effects and deaths from these drugs occur when the user’s body overheats, resulting in acute hyperthermia. This is worryingly common at large scale events like music festivals and raves, where users are dancing for extended periods of time and often forget to hydrate and take a moment to cool themselves down.
In the past, the only remedy for drug-related hypothermia was cold water and ‘cooling stations’, which rarely consisted of anything more than a few large fans and a place to sit and rest. Though now, Eagle Pharmaceuticals have begun testing on an injectable drug called Ryanodex, which acts as an internal cooling pack for the body.
The National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Drug Abuse have just agreed to start preclinical tests on its effectiveness in treating drug-induced hypothermia, and the outcome could significantly change the future scope of drug deaths at many of the world’s largest festivals.
In 2011, the last time U.S officials took count, brain hyperthermia resulted in 125,000 people being admitted to the emergency room after taking either drug. Given that the drugs are capable of elevating body temperature to levels that can melt organs and kill individuals, the testing of Ryanodex is a saving grace, even if it’s arrived a little late.
Harm minimisation should be the primary focus in eradicating drug issues, and this is most certainly a step in the right direction.
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