Attempt to ban toxic 'diet drug' DNP fails

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/24/attempt-to-ban-toxic-diet-drug-dnp-fails

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An attempt to ban the possession of the toxic “diet drug” DNP has failed, it has emerged just days after student Eloise Parry became the fifth person in three years to die after taking the pill bought over the internet.

Parents of two other young victims are understood to have been told in March by an MP that because the drug did not have any psychoactive properties it did not fall under existing laws that could make its possession a criminal offence.

A friend of Parry told the Guardian that the 21-year-old had been taking the drug for some time, and had been admitted to hospital four times in three weeks. She died on 12 April in the Royal Shrewsbury hospital after taking eight capsules at once.

DNP, which stands for dinitrophenol, is a synthetic chemical used in fertilisers and was once an ingredient in explosives. It is illegal to sell it for human consumption, but it is possible to buy it over the internet.

The government has classified DNP as “unsafe”, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Department of Health have both advised the public that it cannot be used in food or safely consumed. But the Home Office has said it cannot be classified as a class C drug, which would make its possession a criminal offence, despite demands from families of other victims for it to do so.

The parents of Sarah Houston, 23, who was studying medicine at Leeds University, and Chris Mapletoft, 18, who had just taken his A-levels, met their MPs and authorities to press for the change.

But Cheryl Gillan, who is the MP in the Houstons’ constituency of Chesham and Amersham, said she had received a response from the Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone in March, which had dashed the family’s hopes.

Featherstone wrote that the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was used to deal with drugs that altered “perception, mood, consciousness, cognition and behaviour. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the government’s expert advisers on drug control, supports the understanding that DNP possesses no psychoactive properties which could bring it within the scope of the act.”

Parry, known to her friends as Ella, was studying for a BA in families and childhood at Glyndwr University. According to a close friend, she had been seeking help to stop taking the drug.

“She had been taking these tablets for the past two and a half months – that’s what she told me,” said the friend, who did not want to be named. “She knew the dangers. She was asking to be admitted [to hospital]. She had an eating disorder. She knew exactly what she was doing and she was desperate to get some help.”

On the Thursday before Easter, she saw her GP, who had her admitted to the Royal Shrewsbury hospital because of her DNP usage. On Easter Saturday, Parry was discharged. The following weekend, she took eight capsules, her largest ever dose, and drove herself back to A&E, but medical staff were unable to save her. The hospital has declined to comment before the inquest.

Because DNP is not classified as a drug but a chemical with industrial use, it may not be on the radar of most doctors. The eating disorders charity Beat said it was one of many “diet pills” people could buy online.

“It is of great concern that dangerous drugs like this are so readily available,” the spokeswoman Mary George said. “I don’t think people understand the risks, particularly if they have an eating disorder and their body is not as robust as it could be. Even if they know about the dangers, if they have an eating disorder, their brain is not thinking logically or rationally.”

George said it could be hard for medical professionals to deal with people who had eating disorders because they could be deceitful and manipulative for fear of getting treatment. “You can’t point the finger of blame at the professionals because they can only deal with what they see at the time,” she said. “But we certainly need to make them more aware of it. The whole world needs to wake up to the dangers of these drugs. They shouldn’t be used at all.”

West Mercia police said they were examining Parry’s laptop and mobile phone to try to find out where she obtained the DNP from. Criminal prosecution is only possible if they can track down somebody who is supplying it for human consumption in the UK.

Speaking to the Shropshire Star, Ella’s mother, Fiona, condemned those who sold DNP on the internet. “This stuff is not meant for human consumption,” she said. “It’s a dangerous toxin. They don’t care. That’s why they do it. They know people will die, they just want to make money and they don’t care about the damage they inflict and the pain and the suffering.”

Featherstone’s letter said the Food Standards Agency, with Home Office support, was working to raise awareness of the drug and take enforcement action. That included asking local authorities to visit gyms and seize any DNP they found, and providing them with a letter to hand to gym and fitness club managers that warns them of the dangers.

Gillan said: “Clearly this further tragic death means more work must be undertaken so that all young people know that DNP can kill them. And the continuing availability and marketing of this drug on the internet is alarming.”