After nearly a dozen teenagers overdosed and one died from taking a hallucinogen at a house party in Blaine, Mn., a Minneapolis suburb, investigators determined the substance was a version of a banned rave-party drug that can be purchased online, the Associated Press reports.
The case of the concoction called 2C-E illustrates a law enforcement gray area surrounding a dangerous class of “cousin drugs” that in some cases are only a molecule apart from their banned relatives. Authorities arrested a 21-year-old man suspected of providing the drug to the teens. He was being held on suspicion of third-degree murder. When the first officers arrived at a home in Blaine, they found a group of young people who were having trouble breathing, and some appeared to be hallucinating. The drug involved, sometimes known as “Europa,” 2C-E, is not specifically listed as a “Schedule I” controlled substance, the kind that are banned by name because they have no approved medical use, such as heroin, cocaine or LSD.