Dangerous new drug cocktail ‘Happy Water’ sweeping Aussie tourist hot spots
It’s been dubbed “Happy Water”, but this new cocktail of drugs saturating international tourism hot spots favoured by Aussies could be deadly. See what’s in it.
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A new cocktail of drugs, deceptively nicknamed “happy water”, is sweeping tourism hot spots favoured by holidaying Aussies.
Organised crime groups are pushing a dangerous psychoactive drug mix on social media to night clubbers and party goers — largely across Asia — according to law enforcement agencies.
Happy water, devised by the groups as they experiment with “new products”, includes a mix of five or more illicit synthetic drugs. The mix is sold in packets at a cost of up to A$128 and has reportedly been found packed into coffee and dairy creamer sachets.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued warnings about the new drug mix, which comes in liquid and powder form to be mixed into drinks, making it harder to detect.
The latest UNODC Global Smart report released earlier this month has revealed the drug products “happy water” and “k-powdered milk” contain a range of different psychoactive substances in varying combinations and concentrations, with ketamine being the most common ingredient.
Ketamine has recorded a rise in use among young Australians in the past few years.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) reported that during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020-21, ketamine use by people who regularly use drugs rose by 21 per cent.
“The cause of the upward trend isn’t clear, but some reasons could be greater availability and lower price compared to other drugs,” an ADF report said.
A series of drug overdose cases in Thailand in the last year resulted in 13 deaths among users of “k-powdered milk”. The drug was presented to users as ketamine. According to autopsy results, these “k-powdered milk” samples contained ketamine, diazepam and caffeine in varying combinations and concentrations.
Happy water seizures analysed in Thailand were shown to contain ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, diazepam, caffeine, and tramadol.
In the past year almost 300,000 Australians visited Thailand and the numbers are expected to increase next year and gradually return to pre-pandemic levels of more than 800,000.
Happy water has been found across Thailand, in the popular tourist resort of Pattaya, and in Myanmar and Singapore, with drug trafficking rings caught smuggling it across borders trying to get it into more countries.
Co-ordinator of the UNODC Global Smart Program Inshik Sim has said there had been drug busts across South-East Asia as a network of traffickers found new markets for the drugs.
Mr Sim said “the surge in ketamine supply … should not be overlooked”.
The UNODC has warned the effects of consuming drug products containing a combination of substances can be unpredictable and dangerous — especially when mixed with alcohol. Most overdoses, including fatal ones, involve use of more than one type of drug.
In Thailand, the Department of Medical Services deputy director-general Dr Manus Potaporn said “happy water” was found to be sold in entertainment venues by a drug trafficking network.
He said the drug has been gaining popularity among foreign tourists.
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