Dutch institute issues 'red alert' over Trump-shaped ecstasy pills

The Utrecht‑based Trimbos Institute has issued a red alert after several Trump‑shaped ecstasy tablets were submitted to testing centres in August and found to contain a “very high” concentration of PMMA. The institute warned, “Do not usage this pill nether immoderate circumstance,” stating that the substance could cause “overheating with perchance fatal consequences”. It released photographs showing the pills bearing a likeness of Donald Trump’s head on one face and the stamps “Trump” and “NL” on the opposite side. PMMA, or para‑methoxymethamfetamine, is chemically similar to MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, but its effect appears later and the stimulant impact is often absent, raising the risk of overdose. Users may experience nausea, an elevated heart rate and convulsions several hours after ingestion. Spokesperson Anniek Groothuis told the Associated Press that no deaths or serious illnesses have been reported among those who may have taken the tablets. Although manufacture, sale and use of ecstasy remain illegal in the Netherlands, a 2024 government study described the drug as “still rather fashionable as a party drug”, noting that in 2022 a record 550,000 people had tried it at least once. This is not the first occasion that Trump’s visage has inspired ecstasy pills; in 2017 German police seized roughly 5,000 carrot‑coloured tablets shaped like the president’s head, which were allegedly marketed online with the slogan “Trump makes partying great again”.