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A Dutch drug addiction and mental health institute has issued a “red alert” to users about potentially lethal ecstasy pills which resemble US President Donald Trump.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Utrecht-based Trimbos Institute said several of the pills had been handed in at testing centres in August and were found to contain a “very high” amount of the chemical PMMA.<\/p>\n
“Do not use this pill under any circumstance,” the institute said in its warning, cautioning that the drug could cause “overheating with potentially fatal consequences”.<\/p>\n
It issued images of the pills, which feature a depiction of Trump’s face on one side and the words “Trump” and “NL” stamped on the other.<\/p>\n
PMMA, or para-methoxymethamfetamine, is a substance similar to MDMA \u2013 the active ingredient in ecstasy pills.<\/p>\n
“However, the effect occurs later, and the stimulating effect is often absent,” the health institute advised. “This increases the risk of overdose.”<\/p>\n
Users are being warned they could experience symptoms such as nausea, an increased heart rate and convulsions hours after ingesting the pills.<\/p>\n
Trimbos Institute spokesperson Anniek Groothuis told the Associated Press that it had no reported cases of death or serious illness among possible users.<\/p>\n
While producing, selling and using ecstasy is illegal in the Netherlands, a 2024 Dutch government report said the substance was “still quite popular as a party drug”.<\/p>\n
The report added that, in 2022, a “record 550,000 people” had taken the drug at least once.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time Donald Trump’s facial features appear to have been used as inspiration for the shape of ecstasy pills.<\/p>\n
In 2017, German police confiscated about 5,000 carrot-coloured ecstasy tablets in the shape of the US president’s head<\/a> \u2013 which they believed had been promoted on the internet under the slogan “Trump makes partying great again”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n