in recent years I’ve read more and more reports of unpleasant and occasionally fatal OD’s through poly-drug use in the UK and Europe – less common in the early 1990s although most likely only because drugs were less pure, availability sporadic and they cost more (plus people didn’t have as much spare cash!), it was then difficult to afford or obtain quantities that could do you any real harm even during a weekend “binge”.
If you were lucky enough to get a load of good stuff at a decent price it was often hoarded and consumed over the period of a month or longer rather than just in one weekend!
About 10 years ago this changed.
Work colleagues who started their training on frontline NHS areas (Emergency Departments etc) have told me they were regularly dealing with young people who had overdone things of a weekend – there did seem to be a false assumption in the 2000s that “party drugs won’t kill you, unlike stuff like heroin”.
I was even shocked myself when some younger folk from the local scenes told me about how many of their friends they had lost through party drugs overdoses – often from combining one stimulant with another in large amounts, and there are still news reports to this day of such incidents.
Dimenhydrinate (what we call Dramamine here in UK/Europe) is rarely used recreationally here, its hard to get in the UK and the only preparation I see on the current formulary is POM (prescription only medicine).
Diphenhydramine (one of its constituents) is still supposedly available OTC but I have not seen it in years, what is actually sold in the shops under the same trade names is weaker stuff like valerian (not that much good as a sleeping tablet let alone for any recreational use!)
Auch wenn du am Abgrund stehst, und gar nichts mehr verstehst,
wachen Engel über dich, halten dich im Licht und lassen dich nie fallen.
