Club drug puts local officials on alert
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
It's an illegal methamphetamine drug in pill form that is hitting the Mainland and European dance club scene. Its high can last up to 10 hours. And it's manufactured to look and taste like candy, making it more appealing to the younger crowd.
It's called "Ya Ba," which means "crazy medicine" in Thailand.
The drug has gained a foothold on the Mainland where federal agents last month arrested 10 people in Sacramento, Calif., suspected of smuggling hundreds of thousands of the pills into California from Thailand and Laos.
Law enforcement officials here say there is one pending case involving about 40 pills confiscated from a Kane'ohe woman that may be Ya Ba, but the drug has yet to hit Hawai'i in large quantities. In local clubs and rave scenes, only a handful of young people say they've heard of the drug, and they say they have not seen it here.
But if it becomes available here, there may be a market. "If it's trendy, people are going to try it, no question about it," said a 22-year-old man at a local nightclub who wanted to remain anonymous.
The drug's popularity in the international club scene is what concerns law enforcement officials, who want to halt the drug from spreading in Hawai'i. They fear that drug dealers may soon try to market the pills here — like the similar-looking and popular illegal club drug Ecstasy — although Ya Ba is more potent.
"Many of these Ya Ba pills have a logo on it like the Ecstasy pills do, so those buying it may think its Ecstasy," said Keith Kamita, chief of the state's Narcotics Enforcement Division. "It can also be made in different flavors to taste like candy, which may make it more attractive to first-time users."
Same price, deadly effects
Another concern is Ya Ba pills cost about $20 each in the United States, about the same price as Ecstasy, according to Kamita. Local medical officials say Ya Ba is extremely addictive and can cause elevated blood pressure and body temperature, irregular heartbeat, hallucinations, stroke and death.
Also known as "Nazi speed" because of its creation by German scientists during World War II to increase the endurance of their soldiers, Ya Ba is a highly pure methamphetamine that first appeared in the United States two years ago in Southeast Asian immigrant communities in California, according to law enforcement officials.
The pills are manufactured in Myanmar and smuggled by the hundreds of millions each year into Thailand, where they are sent worldwide, officials said. The confiscated pills also have included ephedrine and caffeine.
Briane Grey of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Honolulu district office, said Thailand dealers started marketing Ya Ba overseas and pushing it as a drug for rave clubs after the government there changed its laws to crack down on Ya Ba.
The Sacramento case reflects the rise in popularity of the drug, a hot topic on Internet chat sites frequented by teens and young adults who attend raves.
But in Hawai'i, not many people at the nightclub scene seem to be familiar with the drug. Most young adults at several nightclubs and rave scenes interviewed by The Advertiser said they either didn't know about it, or if they did, they didn't have a good idea about what it is. "I heard about it but don't know much about it aside that it has a longer high," said a 21-year-old woman at a rave function.
But Grey and Kamita said there is a possibility that the drug is on the local streets in small amounts, although both agencies have seen no physical evidence of it at the club scene.
"Is it possible that Ya Ba is already here? Absolutely," Grey said. "Whenever drug manufacturers and dealers have a new product, they are always trying to find a market for it. We want to catch this thing at the beginning of the trend."
Kane'ohe case pending
There is one possible pending Ya Ba case. The state Narcotics Enforcement Division and the Navy's Criminal Investigation Service confiscated about 40 pills from a Kane'ohe military spouse this summer. The woman was arrested, but has not been charged with any offense.
Recent tests of the drug's chemical composition showed amphetamine, which is usually Ya Ba in a pill form, Kamita said. State narcotics enforcement officials are investigating further whether the pills are actually Ya Ba.
Dr. Kanthi von Guenthner at the city Medical Examiner's office is also concerned that Ya Ba may be mistaken for Ecstasy. Ecstasy usually creates a "warm," relaxed feeling among users, while Ya Ba is a derivative of synthetic amphetamines that can create more aggressive or violent behavior, as well as hallucinations, von Guenthner said.
"Since Ya Ba is illegally manufactured, the user doesn't know what he or she is taking," von Guenthner said. "You don't know the chemical makeup of each pill, and each person has a different reaction to it."
Ya Ba can quickly increase body temperature and heart rate to create the effects of a stroke, von Guenthner said.
"A user can also die from a cardiac attack related to an irregular heartbeat," said von Guenthner, who noted that long-term use of Ya Ba can cause lung and kidney disorders.
Even if drug pushers have yet to find a market here, Grey is concerned the drug could be introduced another way from the Mainland: through military personnel assigned here or tourists who plan to hit the local club scene. The pills' small size makes them easy for users and smugglers to hide.
U.S. officials have found pills stashed in cigarettes, hemlines and waistbands.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 535-8110.
