Last Updated: February 13, 2023

By: DanceSafe Staff

A baggie of green powder was submitted to EcstasyData.org from Knoxville, TN. The powder was sold as MDMA, but tested as Diclazepam, a benzodiazepine. According to EcstasyData.org, there was no reaction (meaning no color change) for the Marquis, Mecke, and Mandelin reagents.

It is important to understand the set, setting, and harm reduction methods for a benzodiazepine such as Diclazepam before consuming. While MDMA is a stimulant of the phenethylamine class, Diclazepam, a benzodiazepine, is a depressant. Effects of a benzo include anxiety suppression, disinhibition, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, muscle relaxing, and amnesia. Please do your research on how you can minimize risks associated with benzo use–a great resource can be found here.

• Do not mix benzos with other depressants such as alcohol, GHB, ketamine, muscle relaxers, sedatives, and opiates, as such combinations can be fatal. If using benzos recreationally, use your other drugs first, and then wait to see if you need the benzo. This article is a great resource for polysubstance use involving benzodiazepines.
• If you’re using other prescription medications, look up to see how those drugs might interact with a benzo.
• Ingest benzos orally. The vast majority of readily-available benzos are not ideal for snorting or injecting because they are not water soluble.
• Start low and go slow. Because of the sedative properties of benzos, taking too much over the prescribed or recommended dose can cause memory loss and/or blacking out.
• If you’ve taken too much of a benzo, it isn’t a good idea to take a stimulant to try to “wake up.” While benzos are regularly used to come down from stimulants or psychedelics, taking a stimulant to mitigate the drowsiness of benzos creates a speedball effect in your central nervous system, which can strain your heart.
• If you have taken too large of a dose, the best idea is to sleep it off in the recovery position while having someone check in on you often to make sure you are still breathing.
• DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY. Bezos are known to cause extreme physical and psychological dependence. If you notice yourself developing a tolerance and desire to quit, do so by tapering, or lowering, your doses each day. Stopping benzo use cold turkey can cause potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, delirium, anxiety, psychosis, seizures, and suicidal ideations.

We urge our community to keep in mind that drug markets are expansive and that this substance may appear in locations other than Knoxville. Always test before you ingest to avoid ingesting misrepresented substances, and so you can adjust your intention, set, and setting appropriately to minimize risks. Purchase your DanceSafe drug checking kit here. Please note that reagents cannot detect the presence of a benzo, but they will be able to tell you whether a sample is or is not an MDxx substance.

If you test a misrepresented substance, please submit it to testit@dancesafe.org to be featured in a #TestIt Alert.

The purpose of #TestIt Alerts is to alert the public to misrepresented substances circulating in the unregulated, prohibition-driven drug markets in the United States. We neither condemn nor condone drug use, but rather want people to be aware of what they are ingesting so they can take steps to minimize risks.

Since 1998, DanceSafe has been keeping the electronic music and nightlife communities safe. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we provide free harm reduction services at music festivals and nightlife events across the nation. All proceeds from the sales of our drug checking kits go back into the organization so we can continue to provide our services to our communities for free. By purchasing a kit, you are not only helping keep you and your friends safe, you are also contributing to the harm reduction movement. Thank you for your support!