【英语国际】“合法毒品”给欧洲执法部门出难题

When the housing market crashed in 2008, David Llewellyn's construction business went with it. Casting around for a new gig, he decided to commercialize something he'd long done as a hobby: making drugs.

But the 49-year-old Scotsman didn't go into the illegal drug trade. Instead, he entered the so-called 'legal high' business─a burgeoning industry producing new psychoactive powders and pills that are marketed as 'not for human consumption.'

Mr. Llewellyn, a self-described former crack addict, started out making mephedrone, a stimulant also known as Meow Meow that was already popular with the European clubbing set. Once governments began banning it earlier this year, Mr. Llewellyn and a chemistry-savvy partner started selling something they dubbed Nopaine─a stimulant they concocted by tweaking the molecular structure of the attention-deficit drug Ritalin.
Nopaine 'is every bit as good as cocaine,' says Mr. Llewellyn, who has lived in Antwerp on and off since the late 1980s. 'You can freebase it. You can snort it like crack.' Still, he emphasized, 'Everything we sell is legal. I don't want to go to jail for 14 years.'

Mr. Llewellyn is part of a wave of laboratory-adept European entrepreneurs who see gold in the gray zone between legal and illegal drugs. They pose a stiff challenge for European law-enforcement, which is struggling to keep up with all the new concoctions. Last year, 24 new 'psychoactive substances' were identified in Europe, almost double the number reported in 2008, according to the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, or EMCDDA.

The problem is also touching U.S. shores. A new synthetic drug similar to marijuana is increasingly popular, for instance. Some states have started banning it. But many of the other substances and stimulants vexing Europe are less of an issue in the U.S., according to a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

'The legal high phenomenon is very much European,' says Roumen Sedefov, head of supply reduction and new trends at the EMCDDA. New substances tend to hit Europe before the U.S. and other markets, he says, in part because European consumers are more accustomed to buying drugs online. Strong trade links between Europe and southeast Asia, where many of the drugs are made, also play a role, he said. Web sites, no matter where they are based, often market new drugs to Europeans, pricing their wares in euros or British pounds, he said.

European authorities blame mephedrone for the death of three young people in the U.K. and Sweden in recent years. They say it may have contributed to more than 30 additional deaths in the U.K.

The products Mr. Llewellyn sells aren't banned substances. Because he and others market their wares as 'not for human consumption,' his business is technically legal. Still, authorities don't like what he's doing. Drug-enforcement officials are scrambling to spot and ban harmful new drugs faster. Many have banned substances like mephedrone and naphyrone in recent months, giving them the 'class B' status assigned to amphetamines and other drugs.

But with their resources stretched, police say the new drugs aren't as high a priority as fighting 'class A' drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.

As he scurries to stay ahead of the law, authorities have put speed bumps, not roadblocks, in his path. Mr. Llewellyn says Belgian customs officials recently raided one of his storehouses and seized his chemicals, threatening to use environmental laws to shut him down. And he says he may have to move one of his production labs from the Netherlands because authorities there are planning to outlaw the use of certain lab equipment without a professional license.
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A spokesman for Dutch police said he didn't have any information on Mr. Llewellyn. Belgian customs didn't respond to requests for comment.

Other than that, however, Mr. Llewellyn's business is cruising along largely unimpeded. He and eight employees make drugs in a pair of 'underground' labs─one in Holland and a new, $190,000 lab in Scotland. He hawks his wares online at www.alchemylabz.eu, taking payment by bank transfer. He advertises some of the drugs by their formal chemical name and some by nicknames like Euforia or XT.

Mr. Llewellyn says he expects governments to catch wind of Nopaine soon and ban it. Anticipating the move, he says he's got dozens of other products ready to go, including a drug similar to the horse anesthetic Ketamine and something else he claims to be 'the closest thing to Ecstasy that ever existed.' By the time officials crack down, he says, 'we are going to bring out something else.'

His products sell for about 20 ($28) a gram, or 4,000 to 5,800 ($5,500 to $8,000) a kilo. By contrast, a gram of cocaine costs roughly 50 to 70 ($69 to $97) in Europe, according to the EMCDDA.

Many users buy small amounts of the legal stuff online, while large wholesalers buy in bulk and sell it on to dealers. They, in turn, peddle the drugs in nightclubs. Mr. Llewellyn travels frequently to promote his latest products to the biggest wholesalers, whom he declines to name.

He and his chief chemist get ideas for new drugs by scanning scientific literature. They pay particularly close attention to new papers published by scholars known for researching mind-altering, psychoactive substances.

David Nichols, a pharmacologist at Purdue University, has been especially valuable, Mr. Llewellyn says. Through his work studying brain receptors, Dr. Nichols has developed a range of psychoactive substances. His papers give a full description of the drugs he's using, including their chemical makeup. This provides Llewellyn and others with a roadmap for making the drugs.

Dr. Nichols says he's well aware of this fan club. 'The drugs we make often end up on the black market, and it's very troubling to me,' he says. Particularly worrying is that the drugs are rarely tested in humans before hitting the street. Random people sometimes write to him to ask for help in making certain chemicals, he says. He doesn't reply out of caution.

'When people use this stuff chronically, on a weekly basis─suppose it produces liver cancer?' he asks. Also of concern are effects on the kidneys and bone marrow. Most of the designer drugs haven't been tested in humans at all, let alone in large clinical trials. Dr. Nichols says he himself only ever carried out animal tests of the compounds that others are now copying and selling.

Narcotics experts say many of the novel drugs are manufactured in China, where they say lax regulation makes it easy for companies to produce and export a cornucopia of chemicals. Les Iversen, chairman of the U.K.'s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which advises the government on new substances, says customs officials at Heathrow Airport recently seized a large shipment of white powder from China that was labelled 'glucose' but contained mephedrone.

China also supplies raw ingredients to manufacturers located elsewhere. Mr. Llewellyn says he buys his raw ingredients online from Chinese suppliers, who charge rock-bottom prices and ask few questions about his business. The powders and liquids arrive by plane in 1-kilogram sacks and 25-liter drums and go to a warehouse in Glasgow before being shipped to his labs.

Chinese officials say the country is taking steps to control the flow of new drugs. On September 1, China began regulating mephedrone as a 'category I psychotropic substance,' which means anyone importing or exporting it needs a special license. In a written statement, China's State Food and Drug Administration said it has 'strengthened monitoring of the situation in the country,' and is ready to work with other countries to 'exchange information, share resources and jointly respond to new emerging problems of drug abuse.'

Mr. Llewellyn, meanwhile, is unfazed. He boasts that his safety testing method is foolproof: He and several colleagues sit in a room and take a new product 'almost to overdose levels' to see what happens. 'We'll all sit with a pen and a pad, some good music on, and one person who's straight who's watching everything,' he says.

2008年住宅市场崩溃的时候，勒维林（David Llewellyn）的建筑生意也陪了葬。为了另谋生计，他决定把一项多年以来的业余爱好变成生意：制造药品。

Jeanne Whalen/The Wall Street Journal勒维林进入的是所谓的“合法毒品”行业。不过，这名49岁的苏格兰男子并没有涉足非法的毒品贸易。恰恰相反，他进入的是所谓的“合法毒品”行业，这个新生的行业制造新型的精神药物粉末和药丸，销售的时候则打着“人类禁用”的旗号。

自称为过去式瘾君子的勒维林从制造甲氧麻黄酮（mephedrone）起步，又名“喵喵”的甲氧麻黄酮是一种兴奋剂，此前已经在欧洲的夜总会圈子里广泛流行。今年早些时候，各国政府开始禁止这种东西，勒维林和他那个精通化学的合伙人便开始销售另一种兴奋剂。他们称这种兴奋剂为胭脂硷（Nopaine），炮制方法是改变利他能（Ritalin）的分子结构，后者则是一种不太引人注目的毒品。

从八十年代晚期开始，勒维林一直断断续续地住在比利时安特卫普。按他的说法，胭脂硷“跟可卡因一样棒。你可以加了热再吸，也可以像吸‘快克’那样直接吸。”不过，他强调指出，“我们卖的东西都是合法的。我可不想去蹲14年的监狱。”

近年来，欧洲那些精于实验室操作的企业家们纷纷在合法毒品与非法毒品之间的灰色地带看到了发财的黄金机会，勒维林不过是其中之一而已。这些人给欧洲各国的执法部门出了一道难题，后者正在奋起直追，以便掌握所有这些新药品的内情。位于里斯本的欧洲毒品及毒瘾监测中心（EMCDDA）指出，仅仅是去年一年，欧洲就出现了24种新型的“精神药物”，这个数字几乎是2008年的两倍。

同样的问题也席卷了美国的东西海岸。举例来说，在美国，一种与大麻相似的新型合成毒品日益流行，一些州也已经开始禁止它的使用。不过，按照美国缉毒局（Drug Enforcement Administration）一名女发言人的说法，困扰欧洲的许多其他药物和兴奋剂并没有对美国造成多大影响。

EMCDDA的抑制供应及动向监测部门主管塞蒂佛夫（Roumen Sedefov）说，“从很大程度上说，合法毒品是一个欧洲问题。”他还说，新药物之所以总是先冲击欧洲，然后才触及美国，部分原因是欧洲消费者更习惯在网上买毒品。另一个原因则是欧洲和东南亚之间存在紧密的贸易联系，而东南亚正是许多毒品的产地。此外，销售毒品的各个网站不管位于何处，通常都会向欧洲人销售新型毒品，以欧元或是英镑标价。

欧洲官方称，近年来，甲氧麻黄酮已经在英国和瑞典导致了三名青年的死亡。他们还说，英国的另外30宗死亡案例也可能是甲氧麻黄酮导致的恶果。

勒维林销售的产品并没有受到法律的禁止。由于他和其他同行都会在销售之时打出“人类禁用”的旗号，他的生意就拥有技术上的合法性。尽管如此，官方还是看不惯他的所作所为。各国的毒品执法官员已经加快了步伐，希望能早点识别并禁止各种新型的有害药物。前面几个月中，许多国家都禁止了甲氧麻黄酮和naphyrone之类的药物，将它们列为“B类”药物，跟安非他明（amphetamine）之类的毒品一样。

不过，警方宣称，因为资源有限，他们首先要对付的是海洛因和可卡因之类的“A类”毒品，然后才顾得上这些新型的毒品。

勒维林努力跑到法律前头，官方也在给努力拦截他的去路，用的却不是路障，只是减速带而已。勒维林说，比利时海关官员新近突袭了他的仓库，没收了他的化学品，还威胁要依据环境法律来让他关门大吉。他还说，自己也许不得不把位于荷兰的一个生产实验室搬到别处，因为当地政府打算将一些没有专业执照的实验室设备宣布为非法物品。

荷兰警方的一名发言人说，他手头并不掌握关于勒维林的任何材料。比利时海关则对没有回应我们的询问。

不过，除了上述麻烦之外，勒维林的生意依然顺风顺水，几乎没遇到什么障碍。他和8名雇员在两个“地下”实验室里制造毒品，一个在荷兰，新建的一个则在苏格兰，价值190,000美元。他在www.alchemylabz.eu网站上兜售自己的产品，通过银行转账收取货款。宣传产品的时候，他有时候用产品的化学旧名，有时又用Euforia和XT之类的俗称。

勒维林说，按他的估计，各国政府很快就会掌握胭脂硷的情况，继而采取禁止措施。他说，针对这种动向，他已经准备好了几十种其他产品，其中包括一种与马用麻醉剂克他命（Ketamine）相似的药物，还有一种按他说“与‘迷乱’（Ecstasy）空前接近”的东西。他还说，等到官方把这些东西也扑灭的时候，“我们又会搞出其他的产品来。”

他的产品售价大约是20欧元（28美元）1克，或者是4,000至5,800欧元（5,500至8,000美元）一公斤。按照EMCDDA的说法，在欧洲，一克可卡因的价格大约是50至70欧元（69至97美元），比他的产品贵很多。

许多用户都会在网上购买少量的合法毒品，大型的批发商则会大量购买，再将它转卖给毒品贩子，毒品贩子又会到各家夜总会去兜售。勒维林经常四处旅行，为的是把最新产品推销给那些他不肯透露名字的大批发商。

他和他的首席药剂师会通过浏览科学文献来寻找新的制毒创意，尤其重视那些以研究精神药物著名的学者所发表的新论文。

勒维林说，对他们来说，普渡大学的药理学家尼科尔斯（David Nichols）具有特别大的价值。尼科尔斯博士研究脑受体，由此发展出了一系列精神药物。他在论文中详细描述了自己使用的药物，包括它们的化学结构。这样一来，勒维林和他的同行就得到了一张制造毒品的路线图。

尼科尔斯博士说，他已经注意到了这帮拥趸的存在。他说，“我们制造的药物经常都会进入黑市，这一点让我很是心烦。”尤其让人担心的是，在流入市场之前，那些药物很少经受过人体试验的阶段。他说，有时会有来历不明的人写信给他，要求他协助制造某些化学品。出于谨慎的考虑，他没有回复那些信件。

他问道，“如果人们长期使用这种东西，比如说每周一次──要是它会导致肝癌呢？”此外，这些东西对肾脏和骨髓的影响也让人担 。这些自家炮制的药物大多数都没经历过任何人体试验，更不用说大规模的临床测试了。尼科尔斯博士说，其他人纷纷仿制并销售他开发的那些化学药物，可是，就连他自己也只在动物身上试验过那些药物。

致幻药物专家们说，许多新型毒品都是在中国制造的，因为那里管理不严，各家公司很容易就可以获得制造并出口各种化学品的权利。英国毒品滥用咨询委员会负责向政府提供新型毒品的情况，该委员会主席伊弗森（Les Iversen）说，希思罗机场的海关官员最近没收了一大批来自中国的白色粉末，标签上写的是“葡萄糖”，实际上却是甲氧麻黄酮。

此外，中国的厂商还向其他地方的厂商提供原材料。勒维林说，他会从中国供应商手里网购原材料，那些供应商要价最低，也不会打听他的生意。他订购的粉末和液体会通过空运以1公斤袋装或是25升桶装的形式抵达格拉斯哥的一个仓库，然后再转入他的实验室。

中国官员说，中国正在采取措施控制新型毒品的流动。9月1日，中国将甲氧麻黄酮列为了“一类精神药品”，也就是说，进口和出口此种化学品都需要专门的许可证。中国的国家食品和药品管理局发表了一份书面声明，宣称他们已经“加强了对国内形势的监测”，并且乐于与其他国家开展合作，以便“交换信息、共享资源、携手应对毒品滥用的各种新生问题。”

面临此种形势，勒维林并不感到担心。他吹嘘说，自己的药物安全测试方法万无一失：他会和几名同事坐在房里一起吸食新产品，吸到“几乎过量的程度”，然后再看效果如何。他说，“我们都拿着笔和本子坐在那里，房间里放着美妙的音乐，还有个没吸的人在旁边观察整个的情况。”