Yeah, the article doesn't read really coherently to me, there are bits and pieces that don't fit into the whole, and I'm somewhat skeptical of the narrative they've constructed about discovering some new psychoactive effects of catalytic converters that have now become some part of a global catalytic converter underground drug trade.
2004 folks, 2004. Now, you can read all about what is in these drug cocktails and how recreational and professional drug designers ply their trade.
That's how you read the news. You don't need to post wondering "what could be going on???" The author of the article didn't bother to include "there are indications that the active ingredient could be an element in the platinum group metals, maybe rhodium. The are signs of illicite designer drug research around these metals going back as far as 2004." But, it doesn't mean we need to wander around in the headspace of a casual current event type of world news piece. Just go get the answer and in so doing you get perspective on the designer drug industry and how this particular cocktail came about.
The link you've provided doesn't discuss the use of rhodium as a drug, it's the archive of a site named "rhodium" that was used for discussing drugs...
I don't know how these catalysts are interacting with bombe, but the active ingredients seem to be well known, from the article: "tramadol, dolarene, nitrile, ampicillin and, in some cases, traces of heroin". So basically opiods mixed with those platinum group metals you mentioned.
Different sense of the word Rhodium there I think.
Between the platinum getting stolen and sold, the platinum getting stolen and used by dealers to prepare some drug and the platinum getting put into a street drug so it can be used in a reaction by users, I'm gonna go with the platinum getting stolen and sold.
The rhodium archive isn’t about drug preparations with the element rhodium, it’s a defunct drug synthesis website (rhodium.ws) that was run by the user Rhodium.
Their whole post is wildly ironic on so many levels. They barely read the article which did specifically mention the chemicals they claim the article never mentions:
“ The car parts contain deposits like zinc oxide, platinum and rhodium. A laboratory in Antwerp, Belgium is taking a look at the effect of each individual component.”
And then their whole “how to read the news” leads you to absolutely useless information that provides no illumination.
Their entire post is like a replication of exactly what they think is wrong with the news but as a HN comment. Maybe it’s some kind of deeply clever parody…
What are you on about? Rhodium was the name of one of those old school knowledge base websites and I have no idea what hit you got on palladium but it seems to be involved in synthesis.
Ironically if you had actually checked what you linked you wouldve seen there's no discussion of rhodium as a drug but simply an archive that happens to have the name rhodium with information about unrelated drugs.
Catalytic converters are stolen frequently even in Europe for their Pt and Pd content, so my guess would be that these guys are snorting exhaust residues, not precious metals.
> A colonel of the National Police who prefers to remain anonymous points to an initial chemical analysis from a laboratory in Kinshasa. It has found that bombé includes a mixture of different substances like tramadol, dolarene, nitrile, ampicillin and, in some cases, traces of heroin.
So do we know that the elements from the car exhaust filter are.. the active ingredients? Or just there for a certain je ne sais quoi?
These poor folks are snorting and smoking used industrial chemicals which should be in a landfill. And why? To cheaply forget and escape their squalid conditions.
The point is that this level of nuance needs to be applied to the people in the Congo if it cannot be applied to everyone in a developed nations, as "escaping squalor" is clearly not the motive of everyone. As opposed to entertainment, pasttime, available, fun.
It literally states their reasoning is to escape in the article. You've also responded with a not funny or effective facetiousness and rudeness with your "okay top analysis buddy." Comments should elevate the conversation on HN, not degrade it.
People ingest all kinds of things. Back in the 90s GHB was huge in my home town, and when the inflow dried up, people started drinking floor cleaner since the liver converted some kind of common ingredient in it to GHB.
Floor cleaning fluid for large buildings are denatured to this day, at least in sweden. People at work always complain about the smell. It has a very nice vomity tang to it.
GHB is one of the safest drugs IF you are dosing it carefully and not taking it 24/7 for weeks at a time and GBL (which is the cleaner) is also much safer than whatever is going on here.
Sorry for the off-topic question, but how can that
consent dialog possibly be compliant? The only options are to either accept all forms of unspecified tracking, or to pay for a subscription. It seems like exactly the kind of forced consent that GDPR is supposed to forbid.
I've seen the same thing with other German newspapers, but nowhere else. Have they been granted some kind of a special exemption in the German data privacy laws, or are they just gambling on selective enforcement?
Sure, I understand that. But that is not an option that the GDPR is supposed to give. If this is in fact legal, than any company wanting to collect any kind of data could always force consent by offering some rididuculously expensive subscription option instead. "Give us your data to access this app, or pay 100 EUR / month".
But even though this seems obviously illegal, the German newspapers are very blatantly doing this. Why?
Because they are desperate. Look at the development of their sales. Less and and less and even lesser. No matter if print or online. In print they push their sales statistics by giving them away for free in choosen locations. Online the nag to sell you an abo by hiding teaser articles behind a PLUS which you can't see otherwise.
> Is it just me or is the appeal here: "Look! Poor people are having unapproved fun! Shame and Horror!" and assurances that they will suffer for it.
This is not the kind of drug people do for fun. This is the kind that is done to make you forget that you exist while it's active. From the article:
> "We aren’t worried about it,” they say. Ultimately, they claim, they have nothing to lose. "Bombé helps us forget everything. In the West, they have bank accounts, I have nothing. With bombé everything is easier.”
This isn't weed, or LSD, or a "fun" drug. This is the kind of thing that puts you into a stupor so you don't think.
> This isn't weed, or LSD, or a "fun" drug. This is the kind of thing that puts you into a stupor so you don't think.
More like heroin, perhaps.
I would caution about taking everything this article says at entirely face value - you as a reporter could probably get a similar quote about marijuana in Africa as well.
It may very well be that they don't know what it is, but if it comes from catalytic converters, it's definitely harmful because you can't put anything in converters in your body without suffering harm.
It most likely is dangerous in this case but there are many things that are generally bad but only slightly if at all dangerous in the amounts that a drug user takes especially if they only do it occasionally.
Sure, but it's not like there's an infinite amount of things it can be. Catalytic converters have a few ingredients, and it's possible that we know that the harm from all of those is imminent in miniscule quantities.
I'm not saying that's how it is, I'm just saying that it's plausible that they know it's harmful without knowing exactly what it is.
"I drank something from your poison collection, but I don't know what." "Oh no! You're in grave danger." "How do you know, if I don't know what it was?"
Huffing ground up catalytic converter filters...which filters the refuse of petrol based combustion, I can't imagine it would have any negative affects...if you are willing to volunteer as a test subject, I'm sure some lab would take you on for research.
The article says that the substances in the powder are known to cause cancer. And that there are shorter-term lung and circulatory issues being seen in the users already, just as you would imagine with all the heavy metal content.
And no, "poor people" being out of it, sometimes even not eating, for days on end, isn't exactly good for them, even if chosen voluntarily. Maybe especially if chosen voluntarily.
This comment reminds of when Patrick Moore defended glyphosate and said you could drink a whole quart of it and it wouldn't hurt you - then when offered one by the reporter doing the interview danced around refusing to do it on the record. Good times.
Perhaps the people stealing material from catalytic converters want a scapegoat? The brown powder could be whatever.
(Specifically, the video at https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/car-exhaust-drug-craze-... mentions it)