yaba
(crazy medicine, pronounced yar bah)
Originally manufactured by the Nazis to help keep their troops awake for days, Yaba has become increasingly popular in the Far East amongst claims that the drug is now bigger than heroin in Thailand.
Yaba is a derivative of synthetic amphetamines such as speed and can be manufactured far more quickly and easily than traditional forms of amphetamine. The recipe has spread from the Far East by word of mouth and on the Internet (no, don't ask us).
We've experienced some difficulty getting a consistent description of ingredients and effects, with some reports stating that the drug is mostly methamphetamine, running 80% pure with much of the cut being castoff from heroin production
The drug usually comes in pill form (often red/orange, sometimes green) and with its potent mix of visuals and intense highs, drug experts predict that it may soon become popular on the UK club scene.
Although yaba is still very rare in the UK, drug experts report that the UK is being targeted by yaba producers from the 'Golden Triangle' - the drug producing areas which straddle the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos.
The main ingredients, which include salt, household cleaning products, distilled cold medicines and lithium from camera batteries, can be bought legally and the drug easily knocked out at home with a couple of casserole dishes and a hob.
The rewards for criminals can be huge. Around £300 of raw materials can make yaba worth more than £2,000 at British street prices. Since the equipment needed is portable, labs can be moved on a regular basis, making it more difficult for police to track them down.
Side effects:
The drug is claimed to create an intense hallucinogenic effect and can keep users awake for days on end, although some users have reported that the only visuals come as a result of sleep deprivation after binge sessions.
Health risks:
Addictive and/or habit-forming. Regular use of the drug has been linked to lung and kidney disorders, hallucinations and paranoia. A frequent hallucination is 'speed bugs' or crank bugs' where users believe that bugs are crawling under their skin and go loopy trying to get them out. In Thailand, the number of students entering rehab to deal with yaba addiction has risen by nearly 1,000% in the past two years (source: Observer 17.10.99) Those coming off the drug are also susceptible to severe depression and suicidal urges.
Detection periods: unknown
The Law: unknown.
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Hitler's Drug Set to Invade British Clubs
The Observer (UK)
by Tony Thompson
Oct 17, 1999
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Note, "yaba", "crazy medicine", and "hitler's drug" are all names used to refer to methamphetamine. This article seems to intentionally avoid identifying this "new" horror drug as a method of sensationalizing the story. [Erowid]
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It is known as 'crazy medicine'. Now 'yaba' a new drug more popular than heroin in parts of the Far East, is heading for Britain, amid warnings that it could supersede Ecstasy as the drug of choice for the country's clubbers.
The drug, which creates an intense hallucinogenic effect and can enable users to stay awake for days on end, was originally created by German chemists instructed by Adolf Hitler to find a stimulant that would help his soldiers to fight around the clock.
Drug experts are warning that Britain is being targeted by yaba producers operating out of the so-called Golden Triangle - the drug producing areas which straddle the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos.
Last month two packages of a drug thought to be yaba were intercepted at Heathrow Airport. There have been other recent seizures in France and Ireland, and there is evidence that illegal laboratories in the United Kingdom are attempting to make it. 'We are watching this with extreme concern,' one detective told The Observer.
Regular use of the drug has been linked to lung and kidney disorders, hallucinations and paranoia.
A frequent hallucination is 'speed bugs' or 'crank bugs'. The user believes bugs live under his or her skin and becomes desperate to get them out.
Those coming off the drug are also susceptible to severe depression and suicidal urges. Demand for the drug in Britain is being fuelled by holidaymakers returning from the Far East, who talked about the intense high it induces.
A derivative of synthetic amphetamines such as speed, yaba can be manufactured far more quickly and easily than traditional forms of amphetamine. The recipe has spread from the Far East by word of mouth and on the Internet.
The main ingredients, which include salt, household cleaning products, distilled cold medicines, and lithium from camera batteries, can be bought legally.
The rewards for criminals can be huge. Around pounds 300 of raw materials can make yaba worth more than pounds 2,000 at British street prices. Since the equipment needed is portable, labs can be moved on a regular basis, making it more difficult for police to track them down.
'You used to envisage an amphetamine lab with beakers and Bunsen burners, but that's not the case any more,' said one drugs squad detective. 'You can make it right on the hob with just a couple of casserole dishes. As well as being quicker and cheaper, the drug produced is also purer and stronger than other forms of amphetamine.'
The so-called Nazi method of making yaba was first noticed in Thailand more than 30 years ago. At the time it was legal and would be sold at petrol stations alongside soft drinks and cigarettes. Long-distance lorry drivers would pop the pills to help them work through the night. Possession and supply of yaba was criminalised in 1970, but the market simply went underground.
By the mid-Nineties - with students and other young people turning to the drug - seizures of yaba overtook those of heroin.
According to the Public Health Ministry, the number of students entering rehab to deal with yaba addiction has risen by 970 per cent in the past two years. Around five times more yaba than heroin is produced in the Golden Triangle, mainly in Burma.
More than 400 million pills are expected to be smuggled across the border into Thailand in the next year alone. As much as two-thirds of all crime committed in Bangkok is now thought to be yaba related.
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