Pronounced “yar-bah,” Yaba is a psychoactive-stimulant drug that has come to the attention of drug enforcement authorities in the Far East. Although there is plenty of rumoring and street talk dealing about Yaba, there are no official reports of the drug here on the streets of America. Nevertheless, it’s worthwhile to discuss what is known about the drug and those who use it. The DAR (Drug Abuse Recognition) Hotline has received several calls from juvenile probation officers who have picked up on the name of this drug from clients they happen to be supervising. It seems that Yaba has made it to the streets and it’s finding a way into Asian adolescent drug scenes.

Here’s what we know about Yaba:

Yaba principally consists of the powerful central nervous system stimulant methamphetamine. The Far East was for many years a source region for much of the world’s illicit methamphetamine; the drug was a product of post-World War II Japan. The methamphetamine found in Yaba is mixed with a variety of other drugs in order to bring about a modest hallucinogenic effect. In the United Kingdom, Yaba is mixed with caffeine and Ecstasy (MDMA). This compounding produces a unique drug, one that’s capable of bringing about profound feelings of increased energy, excitement and social bonding. Ecstasy is an amphetamine-based drug that is widely abused in America and abroad.

Mixed with methamphetamine to make Yaba; Ecstasy carries with it serious side effects and long-term consequences. Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant drug that is regarded as dangerous and highly addictive. Some reports on Yaba indicate that in addition to methamphetamine, over the counter drugs such as caffeine and pseudo-ephedrine are added to the mixture. Over the counter drugs can be quite dangerous when they’re used at levels and concentrations that exceed recommended dosages. Whatever the added ingredients are, the Yaba powder is typically colorized and run through pill presses to create small-customized tablets that look remarkably similar to Ecstasy tablets. Yaba tablets are usually round and single-scored. Emblems and symbols may be stamped on the side of the pill that’s opposite the scoring. Pill colors range from dark green to bright pink. The drug is consumed orally in its pill form, but it can be easily crushed into a fine powder for snorting or smoking. In Asia, smoking seems to the principal means of Yaba ingestion.

Because methamphetamine is the core psychoactive ingredient in Yaba, users of the drug will present with classic signs of central nervous system stimulant use. If a Yaba dose contains Ecstasy or over the counter stimulants, a user may become hyper-stimulated and hyperactive. DAR signs and symptoms may reveal very elevated findings for pulse and Romberg. Pupil size will be dilated with the potential for little or no reaction to light. Physical symptoms of Yaba use may range from 6-12 hours. Methamphetamine is a long acting drug; Yaba users may exhibit much of the same sorts of behaviors that are regularly found in populations of hard-core methamphetamine users. With the inclusion of Ecstasy in Yaba, a user may experience a mixed set of symptoms. The effects of Ecstasy may bring about a profound sense of calm and contentment that tugs a user’s euphoria in the opposite direction of the stimulant effects caused by methamphetamine.

This sort of combination is not unlike a classic cocaine-based drug combination that evolved in the 1980’s called a “speedball.” In a “speedball, ” antagonistic drugs (cocaine and heroin for example) are ingested concurrently to bring about a highly unusual set of conflicting, bi-polar directed feelings and symptoms. Methamphetamine’s central action results from its ability to stimulate neurons containing nor-epinephrine and dopamine into a hyper-agitated state of excitement. Ecstasy (MDMA) works similarly, except that its action is singularly directed at neurons containing serotonin, a neurotransmitter that among other things balances mood and makes sensory inputs more acute and pleasurable.

Questions and information relating to Yaba and other drugs of abuse can be obtained by contacting the MEDTOX Drug Abuse Recognition (DAR) program at darsprogram@mac.com

Reproduced with permission from The MEDTOX® Journal April 2009