[ARTICLE]
A drug research and treatment center in the Netherlands has issued a red alert warning against consuming ecstasy pills shaped like President Donald Trump's head, saying the pills contain a compound that could kill users.
The Trimbos Institute, a respected Dutch drug treatment and mental health center, identified the dangerous ingredient as PMMA, or para-methoxymethamphetamine. The compound is chemically similar to MDMA, the active ingredient in standard ecstasy, but it acts more slowly in the body.
That slower onset is what makes PMMA particularly dangerous. A user who does not feel effects quickly may assume the pill was weak or ineffective and take a second dose. By the time the drug takes full effect, the user may have consumed a potentially fatal amount.
The institute published a photo of the pills as part of its warning. The pills were green or yellow on the front and red or blue on the back. They showed a likeness of Trump's face on the front, with the word "Trump" and the letters "NL" printed on the back.
The institute's warning was direct: "Absolutely do not use these pills."
Spokesperson Anniek Groothuis told The Associated Press that no deaths or overdoses linked to the pills had been confirmed as of the time of the warning. "We do not know of any victims where PMMA was found in their blood," she said.
The clinic said the pills were discovered after they were handed in to some of its drug-testing centers. The Netherlands operates a system where people can submit drugs for testing before using them. That program is how the dangerous pills were identified.
While ecstasy is illegal in the Netherlands, the Dutch government estimates that hundreds of thousands of people use the drug each year.
Trump-shaped ecstasy pills have appeared before. In 2018, Indiana State Police seized orange pills bearing Trump's face during an operation targeting small-time drug traffickers. Those pills had the phrase "great again" on the back, a reference to his Make America Great Again slogan. In 2017, German police seized thousands of similar orange Trump-shaped pills with an estimated street value of nearly $46,000.
The Trimbos Institute's red alert designation signals the highest level of concern the organization issues. Authorities have not announced any arrests connected to the pills found at the Dutch testing centers.
