Medicine: Look-Alikes: a New Drug Danger

Fake amphetamines are not only lethal but legal—for now

The 17-year-old girl in Belvidere, Ill., seemed to be just one more victim of an overdose of illegally obtained amphetamines. Police, finding the type of pills that allegedly killed her, thought they looked just like "black beauties," one of several forms in which amphetamines are sold. Analysis showed, however, that they were not amphetamines at all but a combination of substances commonly found in the cold remedies, diet and keep-awake pills sold over the counter in drugstores. The dead girl was a victim of the...

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