In the past two years, Marek Zelený, 20, has experimented with pervitin, a local home-cooked methamphetamine, about three times.

Curiosity got the best of Zelený, a regular marijuana user, a week before his 18th birthday. He snorted the bitter powder and waited for the high. Twenty minutes later, it hit, and lasted longer than his night. “At first, I was like, ‘Stay away.’ Then I said, ‘I could try it.’ I was really up from this — lying in bed and couldn’t sleep,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ ”The decision to stay away may soon be influenced by factors beyond Zelený’s control. A national plan is under way to make the core chemical ingredients used in pervitin production much harder to obtain. Authorities seek to curb pervitin production by controlling access to large quantities of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine — a sympathomimetic amine commonly used as a decongestant in over-the-counter cold medicines. They expect the plan to go into effect in January.The scheme was unveiled at a Nov. 6 Prague conference of top drug policy officials from seven countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States with varying degrees of success in slowing the production and use of pervitin.Jiří Komorous, head of the police National Drug Squad (NPC), said he intends to limit access to cold medicine containing pervitin’s core chemicals by limiting purchases by individuals to one package per week and monitoring them via an electronic database. Such measures would impede those who cook pervitin in makeshift labs, as one batch of the drug typically requires hundreds of over-the-counter pills.The Czech Republic has long been a top producer of pervitin, a more refined form of the crystal methamphetamine, or “crystal meth” found in the West. The stimulant made its mark on history during World War II, when it was distributed to Nazi troops to stymie fatigue and raise alertness.

Recreational use took off during the communist era, when an ephedrine plant in the Prague suburb of Roztoky u Prahy ensured an abundance of key ingredients.Today, civilians cook the drug in small kitchens and mobile laboratories nationwide. In recent decades, Czechs have become experts at concocting it by isolating ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from a variety of over-the-counter cold medicines.A vast majority of Europe’s supply of methamphetamines are produced here. As a result, 60 percent of all local drug-related crimes stem from pervitin production and use, a stark difference from elsewhere in Europe, where most drug-related crimes involve marijuana.Aside from being expert producers, European Union–wide statistics suggest that Czechs have honed their cross-border trafficking skills. In 2006, police recovered 154 kilograms of pervitin in 3,000 seizures throughout Europe, according to a Nov. 6 EU report. Only a few of these grams were seized in the Czech Republic, where most pervitin originates.The trend has long vexed local authorities, who are determined to eradicate pervitin by cooperating with other EU nations, as well as Australia and the United States, to slow pervitin’s use and production. “I was really envious … of the success our colleagues have had in their respective countries with curbing this phenomenon,” Komorous said.He intends to model the local anti-drug strategy after Australia’s, wherein private pharmaceutical companies stopped manufacturing over-the-counter drugs that contain pervitin’s core chemicals. Troubling signsSteps to curb the drug’s generation and consumption may be the only way to prevent its abuse. While Western Europe prefers cocaine to pervitin, the Czech users’ choice has to do with affordability and availability. Similarly to cocaine, pervitin can be snorted, popped, smoked, injected or even mixed into cocktails. Since cocaine has to traverse many international borders to get here, its supplies can be low while prices remain high. By contrast, pervitin is made here in high quantities, so the price stays low, said Dr. Jiří Presl, who has counseled drug addicts for 23 years. First-time pervitin users are generally career-focused 20- and 30-year-olds in search of instant gratification, he said.Users generally start like Zelený did, experimenting a few times before becoming recreational users. This can go on for years, but there is always a risk of recreational use morphing into regular abuse.“I wouldn’t say it happens to everybody. Most people are capable of … stopping at the first signs of trouble because they are afraid of losing everything,” Presl said. “But there are some who never stop.”Zelený said his own experience watching the four-year decline of a friend and neighbor convinced him to cut back. “I think it was a really bad sign in my life,” he said, shaking his head. “No, no ... I’d rather smoke weed than snort.”

EU report maps pervitin use

 Ailene Torres and Markéta Hulpachová

The Prague Post