Mainstream news websites report that batches of ecstasy laced with the pesticide levamisole have arrived on Australian shores following a worldwide shortage of MDMA. The claims surfaced in Zurich at an international drug conference recently where it was also asserted cocaine is being cut with the chemical MCPP.

Levamisole is commonly used to treat worm infestations in cattle, pigs and sheep, although Wikipedia states it has also been used to treat human in the past. It has long been a common cutting agent in cocaine and ecstasy, with a 2008-2009 report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration finding 69% of cocaine samples tested positive for the substance. Toxicology reports following the death of DJ AM showed levamisole in his system. MCPP – meta-Chlorophenylpiperazine – has been around since the 1970s, and in the mid 2000s gained popularity as a ‘designer drug’. It is commonly found in pills claimed to be ecstasy.

News.com.au report that these ‘highly dangerous’ batches of cocaine and ecstasy are already on Australian streets. “It is very, very dangerous because people don’t know what’s in the drugs,” said Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham. “We have certainly seen a spike in seizures and arrests of cocaine,” he continued. “It’s the first time we have seen cocaine seizures significantly overtake heroin, although it is still a small population of the overall drug seizures.