flunitrazepam

Erimin (nimetazepam) packaging – front

This ill researched, sensationalist tabloid story here is another
example of how the media is contributing to the bad image recreational
drug users have to put up with. I will not link it – not because we’re
competing for SERPs on “Erimin” (I don’t compete for keywords, I just
try to get mine out there), but because it’s pure, steaming bullshit.
The article is about Erimin-5 pills, but it is written more to
sensationalize than to provide concise facts. What do you expect from a
tabloid? I mean for fucks sake, do you really need to put caps in the
title? Does that really sensationalize the thrashy “article” all that
much?

Erimin (nimetazepam) packaging – back

Just so you can check it out, here’s the link (start from http and paste every other line, including the numbers until html), you have to do a bit of cut and pasting coz I do not link to poorly researched anti-drug propaganda:
http://newpaper.asia1
Hello, I’m Joycelyn Wong.
.com.sg/to
I do not know much about benzodiazepines.
p/story/0,4136,
but I’ll like to write an article about it anyway.
26703-10
because you know, I have a Phd. in Sensationalist Writing (Applied Tabloids)
546559
and my research was on How to Sample a Population 101
40,00.html
It’s not that hard really, just pick (or invent) some random guys
called Nicky and Ryan and get them to make sweeping statements and pass
on personal experiences as fact.

No, there is no room for words such as “may”, “seems”, “feel”. Those
words leave room for alternative views! They are bad! My doctorate
taught me that it’s much more effective to pass off opinions as facts.
Fuck the truth, no room for that here, people want to hear about third
hand “experiences” (the more sensationalist the better!) like “addicts
stealing from a shop” coz we all know that drug users are fucking scum,
they are liars, they are thieves and they are no better than dogs. No,
we won’t be touching any of that stuff. Now, let us have promiscuous
unprotected sex and pass HIV around because sex is good and drugs are
bad, mmmkay? Mmmkay.

Flunitrazepam = bad

Dangerous substances like flunitrazepam should be avoided, okay!
They have been found in the fake Erimin-5 pills and they can make you
unconscious, and I must bring up the date rape issue, because we all
know that drug users do that! Evil corrupt fucks! Stay away from the
dirty junkies, hang out with the frat boys and the pretentious clubbers
because they won’t do that to you. No, not them, they’re the Good Guys.

Be careful of benzos okay! They cause convulsions!!! What?
Benzodiazepines have anticonvulsant activity? They are marketed as
anti-epileptics? I see…so it’s withdrawal after long term benzo
therapy that may cause convulsions, oops I got it the other way round.
My bad. I don’t know anything about that, I didn’t do any research
actually…shh! I don’t even know that Upjohn is a pharmaceuticals
company, I thought it was a drug name. What’s that? Upjohn merged with
Pharmacia and the merged company got acquired by Pfizer? I don’t really
care about all that, it’s just history. But hmm…isn’t Pfizer the one
that made Viagra? Now that I know, that’s good stuff indeed. Benzo =
bad, sildenafil = good. You know…I thought the imprint is the drug
name! Hmm…there are many benzos out there with the Upjohn imprint you
say? You’re confusing me, please stop, I only know that drugs are bad,
mmmkay??? Mmmkay!

The Famous Five (by Enid Blyton)

Benzodiazepines cause hallucinations too!!! Yes, full blown
opened eye visuals, I’m not fucking kidding you, they are bad ok! Ricky
told me so. Er…I mean Nicky. That’s what I wrote in the tabloid article
right? *double checks* Yeah, Brian told me so, oh sorry, I mean Ryan.
Note to self: Keep the names consistent. Okay, now I’m going to write
about Death! Dr Brian Yeo, who is a well respected general
practitioner, says that nimetazepam causes DEATH (!!!) when taken in
large amounts. He’s a doctor so he’s always right.

What? The Merck Index says nimetazepam has an oral LD50 of 750mg/kg
for mice and 970mg/kg for rats? Who the fuck is Merck? Come to think of
it, what is the highest dose per tablet for Erimin-5? 5 mg of
nimetazepam is the strongest preparation you say? Humans seem to have a higher LD50 than mice/rats on benzodiazepines
[inchem.org], but just for statistical purposes, let us assume the LD50
for mice is the LD50 for humans. Now then…that hypothetical human (as
unfortunately benzodiazepines are very safe when taken alone even at
high doses) would have to take 150 tablets at once to have a 50% chance
of dying.

[Edit: Curse my poor math…why didn’t a more gifted
person pick this up? :p A human would need much more than that, since
it’s 750 mg per kg, so following the mice LD50, a 60 kg person would need 9000 mg or 1,800 pills!
(I have mastered the art of selective use of bold for text too) If you
really have that much, please consider suicide using an alternative
method, since it would be quite painful to consume that many tablets at
once.]

That is assuming that the nimetazepam is all absorbed at once. Brian, did you skip one too many med school classes?

That is the Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals logo and their internal code – 028

Erimin is made by Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals [sumitomopharm.com]

This took a damn long time to search for, so please thank me. :p
I’ve always wondered who made Erimin, and information is scarce and
unreadable (Japanese) on the net. I’ve heard it attributed to Landsen
etc., I know it’s made in Japan, but I don’t exactly know who made
it…until today. Sumitomo don’t actually have nimetazepam or Erimin
listed in their products catalogue, but look at the Sumitomo logo and
look at the Erimin-5 pill. Mystery solved, feels good to get to the end
of this at last!

Anyway, the tabloid article isn’t without merit, as I did learn two
things today. That is assuming that this source can be trusted (and
that’s a very big assumption, when presented with the current data):
1. Flunitrazepam was taken off the market in Singapore in 1998.
2. My poor secluded state (or maybe it’s just me :p) is getting shafted with Erimin-5 prices.

The end of the article states that 55,000 Erimin 5 pills were seized
fairly recently, and the street value was quoted at S$440,000. That
means each pill is going for S$8, and we all know how the media and the
law enforcement elements like to inflate the “estimated street value”
of drugs, so let’s half that price to S$4. That’s RM 8 per pill and the
street price in my town is RM 15. I mean, I just heard and all, not
that I’ve been partaking in anything I don’t want do. <-Loaded
statement. Thankfully, diazepam is still RM 0.50/5 mg tablet and
alprazolam goes for RM 7.50/2.5 mg. Prices are from veritas and they
are OTC prices, unregulated pharmacies ;). Read veritas’s post on
Erimin-5 here:

Erimin 5 [sixthseal.com]

S$ = Singapore dollars = slightly higher than A$ but for easier conversion:
S$1 = A$1 (1 Singapore dollar = 1 Australian dollar)
RM = Ringgit Malaysia = 1/2 for A$ so:
RM1 = A$0.50 (1 Malaysian dollar = 50 cents Australian)

In other news, the recent Google Dance obliterated my PR (down to 3 from 4) but I’m getting amazing SERPs. [Update:
I am back to PR4 now.] How is that possible? Oh well, that “persistant
sidebar” does make my pages look like spam so I’m not surprised at the
drop in PR. Design for the users or for Google? I’ll go with you, dear
readers. 😉

[Update: Back to PR3 again…stabilize dammit. :p]

[Last Update: Oh wait, I’m PR4 again. Google flux, thou tease me so…]