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Commercially available conventional drugs have been used to adulterate herbal products. Considering the rapid growth of herbal products' market, it is essential to screen herbal products for the presence of conventional drugs. Simple analytical methods are needed for the rapid screening of conventional drugs that are likely to be adulterated in herbal products. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) methods for screening twelve conventional drugs in herbal products have been developed and applied. The analytes were extracted from herbal products using acetonitrile:methanol:acetic acid:water (4:4:1:1, v/v). Solvent mixture of dichloromethane:ethyl acetate:methanol (75:15:10, v/v) separated well trimethoprim, sildenafil, paracetamol, and sulfamethoxazole while pyrimethamine, metronidazole, and sulfadoxine were well separated by dichloromethane:ethyl acetate:methanol (77.5:12.5:10, v/v). In addition, acetyl salicylic acid, ibuprofen, diclofenac, quinine, and lumefantrine were well separated by ethyl acetate:methanol:30% ammonia (75:22.5:2.5, v/v). Chromatographic separations were found to be highly reproducible, and more than 10 samples can be analysed in one run. The method was applied in the screening of 229 herbal products. Consequently, 24.0% of the samples contained one adulterant, while 21.4% contained at least two adulterants. All conventional drugs detected in herbal products were not mentioned on the labels and therefore the consumers are kept unaware of their side effects and health problems. Further studies for confirming and quantitatively determining the adulterants in a wide range of products as well as a systematic toxicological analysis of the adulterants in herbal products are recommended.

BackgroundSynthetic cannabinoids are a significant public health concern, especially among incarcerated populations due to increased reports of abuse. Recent news reports have highlighted the severe consequences of K2/Spice, a synthetic cannabinoid, among the prison population in the United States. Despite regulations against cell phone use, inmates use TikTok to post K2/Spice-related content.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine TikTok posts for use and illicit distribution of psychoactive substances (eg, K2/Spice) among incarcerated populations.MethodsThe study collected TikTok videos associated with the #k2spice hashtag and used a data collection approach similar to snowball sampling. Inductive coding was used to conduct content analysis of video characteristics. Videos were manually annotated to generate binary classifications related to the use of K2/Spice as well as selling and buying activities associated with it. Statistical analysis was used to determine associations between a video's user engagement and an intent to buy or sell K2/Spice.ResultsA total of 89 TikTok videos with the hashtag #k2spice were manually coded, with 40% (n=36) identified as displaying the use, solicitation, or adverse effects of K2/Spice among the prison population. Of them, 44.44% (n=16) were in a prison-based setting documenting adverse effects including possible overdose. Videos with higher user engagement were positively correlated with comments indicating an intent to buy or sell K2/Spice.ConclusionsK2/Spice is a drug subject to abuse among prison inmates in the United States, including depictions of its harmful effects being recorded and shared on TikTok. Lack of policy enforcement on TikTok and the need for better access to treatment services within the prison system may be exacerbating substance use among this highly vulnerable population. Minimizing the potential individual harm of this content on the incarcerated population should be a priority for social media platforms and

Multiple transformations-referred to as "waves" in a panoply of recent public health and law enforcement publications-have rendered North American drug markets increasingly toxic since the early 2010s. The introduction of exceptionally potent synthetic sedatives and stimulants is initiating a new generation of drug injectors into co-use of opioids and methamphetamine, catapulting rates of deadly overdoses and infectious diseases. Drawing on extensive participant-observation research in Philadelphia (2007-present) and Tijuana (2018-present), we document the experience of street-based drug users across these two North American cities to focus on regional shifts in narcotics supplies and endpoint user preferences. We link the dramatic proliferation of fentanyl, methamphetamine, xylazine, and Mexican white powder heroin to: 1) pre-existing drug supply networks on the western and eastern coasts of the North American subcontinent; 2) material characteristics of local heroin supplies in pre-fentanyl opiate markets (Mexican black tar vs. Colombian off-white powder heroin); and 3) racialized repression/incarceration of drug sellers and users on both sides of the Mexico-US border. The article combines economic and medical anthropology to develop an ethnographically-informed political economy approach to an urgent public health challenge among street-based drug users with the highest overdose mortality rates in the US Northeastern Rust Belt and the Northwestern Mexican borderland metroplex anchored by Tijuana. It foregrounds street users' experiences in real time amidst rapidly shifting narcotics supply chains, linking market-driven logics of profit-seeking to the war on drugs' prohibitionist policy context, highlighting increasing toxic impacts on vulnerable sectors across regions.

This article aims to develop a reflection on the changes in the understanding and significance of the uses of synthetic drugs in modern pharmacotopia. From a genealogical perspective, the text develops a diagnosis of the present, which is empirically based on two ethnographic investigations carried out in Santiago de Chile between 2004 and 2018. The central argument of the article is to affirm that the emergence of synthetic drugs constitutes a pharmacopolitical event, whose effects reconfigure the field of knowledge, government practices, and the politics of experience. In this framework, it problematizes the drug / drug separation, warning of a shift in the regimes of truth with respect to drugs. The analysis of endurance and plasticity is used as fictions that are situated on the horizon of human empowerment. Both figures position us in a fiction of a habitable body in its plasticity, as a symbolic and material expression of a pharmacopolitical turn. The pharmacopolitical fiction is configured around the idea of ​​a human empowerment that operates through somatotechnological experimentation practices and processes of subjectivation., Este artículo se propone desarrollar una reflexión sobre los cambios en la comprensión y significación de los usos de las drogas sintéticas en la farmacotopía moderna. Desde una perspectiva genealógica, el texto desarrolla un diagnóstico del presente, el cual se fundamenta empíricamente en dos investigaciones etnográficas realizadas en Santiago de Chile entre los años 2004 y 2018. El argumento central del artículo es afirmar que la emergencia de las drogas sintéticas constituye un acontecimiento farmacopolítico, cuyos efectos reconfiguran el campo del saber, las prácticas de gobierno y las políticas de la experiencia. En ese marco, problematiza la separación drogas/medicamento, advirtiendo de un desplazamiento en los regímenes de verdad respecto al fármacon. Se recurre al análisis del aguante y la plasticidad como ficciones que se sitúan en el horizonte del potenciamiento humano. Ambas figuras nos posicionan en la ficción de un cuerpo habitable en su plasticidad, como expresión simbólica y material de un giro farmacopolítico. Esta ficción farmacopolítica se configura en torno a la idea de un potenciamiento humano que opera mediante prácticas de experimentación somatecnológicas y procesos de subjetivación.

In this work, a fractional-order synthetic drugs transmission model with psychological addicts has been proposed along with psychological treatment. The effects of synthetic drugs are deadly and sometimes even violent. We have studied the local and global stability of the model with different criterion. The existence and uniqueness criterion along with positivity and boundedness of the solutions have also been established. The local and global stabilities are decided by the basic reproduction number R0 . We have also analyzed the sensitivity of parameters. An optimal control problem has been formulated by controlling psychological addiction and analyzed by the help of Pontryagin maximum principle. These results are verified by numerical simulations.

The purpose of the study was to investigate social workers perceptions of new psychoactive substances (NPS’s), and how they work preventively towards them. In order to answer our purpose, we conducted eight semi-structured interviews with social workers working in, or close to, the field of addiction. The answers were analyzed on the basis of previous research and the theoretical concepts of grassroots bureaucracy and scope of action found in Lipsky's (1980) theory of grassroots bureaucracy. The results showed that all social workers problematized the accessibility and risks associated with the use of NPS’s and that it is a generational issue where mainly younger people use these types of substances. The preventive work proved to be a responsibility that is shifted on colleagues who in turn do the same. Many social workers stated that their scope of action is large within the legislation, sometimes so large that it is difficult to limit and be able to take direction. The study also showed that there are no guidelines on the part of the organization that are linked to NPS’s, which in turn leads to social workers having to tackle the problem more on their own.

In January 2019, per the request of Utah state legislators, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Office of Health Disparities (OHD) released the Health Disparities by Utah State Legislative District report. The report was the first of its kind in Utah and uniquely demonstrated not all districts experience health in the same way. This publication also includes: 1) Community Health Workers Can Help Lower Healthcare Costs; and 2) Opioid Epidemic, Medical Cannabis and Medicaid Expansion: Impacts to American Indian/Alaska Native communities in Utah.

Childhood lead exposure continues to be a public health concern. Lead plays no biological function in the human body and can harm a child's intellectual and cognitive development. While there are many possible routes of lead exposure (including drinking water and air emissions), the primary source of concern continues to be lead-based paint in older residential homes. This publication also includes: 1) Misapplication of the CDC Guidelines on Prescribing Opioids; 2) Opioid Crisis Planning; and 3) Monthly Health Indicators Report.

In 2014, four states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah) formed the Four Corners States Biomonitoring Consortium (4CSBC). The consortium objectives were to demonstrate the ability of regional collaboration; increase biomonitoring capacity; and collect data on exposure to certain heavy metals, phthalates which are found in plastics, pesticides, and contaminants of consumer products. This publication also includes: 1) The Utah Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) Registry and Utah Resuscitation Academies; 2) Fentanyl Decontamination; and 3) Monthly Health Indicators Report.

Dominic Wild, Masterarbeit Universität Innsbruck November 2019

MDPV is a synthetic cathinone illegally marketed and consumed for its psychostimulant effects, which are similar to those produced by cocaine, amphetamines, and MDMA. Clinical reports indicate that MDPV produces euphoria, increases alertness, and at high doses causes agitation, psychosis, tachycardia and hypertension, hallucinations, delirium, hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis, and even death. In rodents, MDPV reproduces the typical physiological effects of psychostimulant drugs, demonstrating greater potency than cocaine. Nevertheless, its role in aggressive behavior has been reported but not yet experimentally confirmed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute and repeated MDPV (0.01–10 mg/kg i.p.) administration on aggressive behavior in mice and to compare them with those of cocaine (0.01–10 mg/kg i.p.) administration. To this purpose, the resident–intruder test in isolated mice and the spontaneous and stimulated aggressiveness tests for group-housed mice were employed. The present study shows for the first time that MDPV enhances aggressive behavior and locomotion in mice with greater potency and efficacy than cocaine treatment. Moreover, the aggressive and locomotor responses are enhanced after repeated administration, indicating that a sensitization mechanism comes into play. These results, although from preclinical investigation, are suggestive that human MDPV intake could be a problem for public health and the criminal justice system. Thus, investigation by police officers and medical staff is needed to prevent interpersonal violence induced by the consumption of synthetic cathinones.

Methylone, Ethylone, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), and α-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP) collectively referred to as bath salts are a new trend of illicit substances known as synthetic cathinones. Designed by chemically modifying the core structure of the compound cathinone, synthetic cathinones became prevalent within the United States around the mid-2000s. As a cheap and less controlled alternative to methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy), it has become heavily abused, prompting emergency scheduling by federal regulators. Although regulations have been placed to halt incoming traffic of these drugs, lack of ground efforts still leave a large percentage of bath salts available. This study is two-fold, as it seeks to develop an extraction method for the development of Volatile Organic Compound profiles associated with various synthetic cathinones; and also determine the odorant used for canine recognition. The initial goal of this dissertation was to develop an extraction method to characterize various cathinone derivatives. The present study concluded that by employing a Polydimethylsiloxane Divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) coated fiber along with complimentary soft ionization techniques, the volatile components and all parent drugs could be identified within sixteen synthetic cathinone cases. The second goal of the dissertation was to assess and enhance the detection capabilities of narcotic detection teams. Canine field detection is routinely used to stop the increasing distribution influx of drugs into the United States that go undetected by standard procedures currently employed. Although currently canines can detect a multitude of drugs including heroin, cocaine, MDMA, and methamphetamine; this study revealed that more than ten canine teams (throughout south Florida) were not able to detect the presence of synthetic cathinones with current training material. While concerns have grown concerning the safety and reliability of canines being trained on vari

As part of an increasing worldwide use of designer drugs, recent use of compounds containing cathinones and synthetic cannabinoids is especially prevalent. Here, we reviewed current literature on the prevalence, epidemiology, bio-behavioral effects, and detection of these compounds. Gender differences and clinical effects will also be examined. Chronic use of synthetic cathinone compounds can have major effects on the central nervous system and can induce acute psychosis, hypomania, paranoid ideation, and delusions, similar to the effects of other better-known amphetamine-type stimulants. Synthetic cannabinoid products have effects that are somewhat similar to those of natural cannabis but more potent and long-lasting than THC. Some of these compounds are potent and dangerous, having been linked to psychosis, mania, and suicidal ideation. Novel compounds are developed rapidly and new screening techniques are needed to detect them as well as a rigorous regulation and legislation reinforcement to prevent their distribution and use. Given the rapid increase in the use of synthetic cathinones and cannabinoid designer drugs, their potential for dependence and abuse, and harmful medical and psychiatric effects, there is a need for research and education in the areas of prevention and treatment.

This is a progress report (Year 3) for the development of a novel therapeutic drug (salubrinal and guanabenz) for skeletal diseases, focusing on potential treatment of osteoporosis and bone fracture. The study in the third year was focused on the subtasks in Tasks 3, 4, and 5, using animal models and in vitro cell cultures. In vivo data supported efficacy of salubrinal and guanabenz on strengthening bone in bone necrosis (Task 3) and bone fracture (Task 4). In vitro data showed genome-wide mRNA & microRNA expression patterns in response to salubrinal and guanabenz, and they indicated novel signaling molecules involved in the responses to salubrinal and guanabenz. In Task 5, a clinical trial of guanabenz is being planned at Indiana University for cancer patients with bone metastasis who suffer from severe bone loss. The study in the fourth year will be conducted focusing on Task 4 (bone fracture using local administration of the proposed agents), together with integration of in vitro/in vivo data for a clinical trial at Indiana University., The original document contains color images.

BackgroundUse of synthetic cathinones (SC) and cannabimimetics (i.e., "THC homologues" [TH]) is associated with adverse health effects. We investigated the epidemiology of synthetic drug use among a cohort of injection drug users (IDUs) in San Diego, California.MethodsWe used logistic regression analysis to identify correlates of SC and TH use among 485 IDUs enrolled from June 2012 to September 2013.ResultsSeven percent of participants reported ever using SC and 30% reported ever using TH. In multivariate logistic regression, age and recent hospitalization were significantly associated with odds of SC use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 0.93, 95% Confidence Interval [C.I.] 0.90, 0.97; and AOR 2.34 95% C.I. 1.00, 5.49, respectively) and TH use (AOR 0.96, 95% C.I. 0.94, 0.98; and AOR 2.62, 95% C.I. 1.47, 4.68, respectively). Use of methamphetamine (AOR 9.35, 95% C.I. 1.20, 72.79) and club drugs in the past six months (AOR 3.38, 95% C.I. 1.17, 9.76) were significantly associated with SC use. Being on probation/parole (AOR 2.42, 95% C.I. 1.44, 4.07), initiating injection drug use with stimulants (AOR 1.89 95% C.I. 1.13, 3.16), and past six-month marijuana (AOR 9.22, 95% C.I. 4.49, 18.96) and prescription drug use (AOR 1.98, 95% C.I. 1.20, 3.27) were significantly associated with TH use.ConclusionsA considerable proportion of IDU use synthetic drugs and may experience harms associated with their use. Findings have implications for criminal justice system management. Prevention efforts should emphasize the risks associated with rapidly changing synthetic formulations, and the potential harms associated with polydrug use.

In the present study, we examine the relation between resilience and use of illegal drugs (cannabis, cocaine and synthetic drugs). We used a sample of 1,706 youths, aged 14 to 25 years, randomly selected in three geographic areas of Galicia (Spain): Vigo (Pontevedra), Salnés (Pontevedra) and O Carballiño (Ourense). Resilience was assessed using the Resilience Scale of Wagnild and Young (1993). The results indicate, as predicted, that people who use drugs some time in their life or in the last 6 months are less resilient than those who have not used them. The present study indicates the need to take into account the resilience of individuals due to its relationship with drug use and other risky behaviours, as well as in developing drug prevention programs., En el presente estudio se analiza la relación entre la resiliencia y el consumo de drogas ilegales (cannabis, cocaína y drogas de síntesis). Se utilizó una muestra aleatoria de 1.706 personas de 14 a 25 años, seleccionadas en tres áreas geográficas de Galicia: Vigo (Pontevedra), en la comarca del Salnés (Pontevedra) y en la comarca de O Carballiño (Ourense). La resiliencia se evaluó con la escala de Resiliencia de Wagnild y Young (1993). Los resultados indican, en la línea de lo predicho, que las personas que consumen drogas, tanto alguna vez en la vida como en los últimos 6 meses, tienen una menor resiliencia que los que no las consumen. El presente estudio indica la necesidad de tener en cuenta la resiliencia de los individuos por su relación con el consumo de drogas y con otras conductas de riesgo, así como en el desarrollo de los programas preventivos de drogas.

This report provides an overview of U.S. international drug control policy. It describes major international counternarcotics initiatives and evaluates the broad array of U.S. drug control policy tools currently in use. The report also considers alternative counterdrug policy approaches to current initiatives and raises several counterdrug policy issues and considerations for policy makers. Illegal drugs refer to narcotic, psychotropic, and related substances whose production, sale, and use are restricted by domestic law and international drug control agreements. Common illegal drugs include cannabis, cocaine, opiates, and synthetic drugs. International trade in these drugs represents a lucrative and what at times seems to be an intractable criminal enterprise, affecting countries worldwide and generating between $100 billion and $1 trillion in illicit profits per year. Revenue from the illegal drug industry provides international drug trafficking organizations with the resources to evade and compete with law enforcement officials; penetrate legitimate economic structures through money laundering; and, in some instances, challenge the authority of national governments. Despite apparent national resolve to address international narcotics trafficking, tensions appear at times between U.S. international drug control policy and other U.S. foreign policy goals and concerns. Pursuit of international drug control policies can sometimes negatively affect national interests by exacerbating political instability and economic dislocation in countries where narcotics production is entrenched economically and socially. Drug supply interdiction programs and U.S. systems to facilitate the international movement of legitimate goods, people, and wealth also are often at odds., CRS Report for Congress.

Informational brochure about club drugs.

Informational brochure about club drugs.

Many security-related roles that were customarily the responsibility of governments and public police agencies have become commercialized, devolved, or otherwise dispersed. This phenomenon has been described as 'multilateralization.' The paper sets out to analyse the multilateralization of policing as it applies to strategies of supply reduction in the area of illicit synthetic drugs, focusing in particular upon amphetamine type substances. Supply reduction can constitute interventions not ordinarily thought of as drug law enforcement and entail a range of technologies underpinned by regulatory theory. Various strategies of engaging external institutions in furtherance of reducing the supply of illicit synthetic drugs are canvassed. The authors provide an analytical framework for understanding how illicit synthetic drugs can be governed through strategies of co-production and the possible barriers and issues that need to be considered when attempting to engage the crime control capacities of external institutions.

Pharmaceutical agents that may be protective to the heart during ischemia were targeted in this project. Analogs to a lead compound containing potential cardioprotective properties were prepared. In the pharmacological evaluation five compounds were found to be more potent than the lead compound.

Brochure regarding risks, dangers and possible victims of "club drugs", including prevention methods.

Brochure regarding risks, dangers and possible victims of "club drugs", including prevention methods.

Summary: Pseudopterosin C is a novel diterpene glycoside isolated from the Caribbean gorgonian coral, Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae. Pseudopterosin C is non-steroidal and has been shown to exhibit promising anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. The in vitro production of pseudopterosin C through biosynthetic methods has been examined. A cell-free system as well as an enzyme precipitate capable of transforming terpene precursors to the product has been developed. The parameters toward optimizing the enzymatic production through cofactor requirements, differing terpene precursors and sugars were investigated., Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1998.

The purpose of this study was to examine racial differences in mortality due to accidents, poisonings and violence among enlisted Navy personnel between 1974 and 1979. Primary diagnosis, cause of death, type of trauma and place of occurrence were examined on the basis of age, race, sex, occupation, pay grade, and length of service. Results indicated that blacks had a significantly higher total mortality rate than whites. Blacks were found to be at significant risk of death from adverse effects, toxic effects, and homicides. Most of the deaths due to adverse effects were attributed to unspecified drugs, followed by opiates and synthetic analogs. The risk of death from toxic effects for blacks was twice as great as the risk for whites, with drownings accounting for the largest percentage of these deaths among both racial groups. The homicide rate for blacks also was three times greater than the homicide rate for whites. No consistent relationship between mortality, age, and in-service socioeconomic status was discerned for either racial group. Pre-service sociocultural factors do appear to be implicated in the risk of death from adverse effects and drowning among blacks, however. Greater awareness of the hazards of improper use of drugs and medications and greater concern for water safety, especially among older black males, was indicated.

Drug policy in the United States is reactive and unprepared for burgeoning phenomena related to the convergence of drugs and technology. In the twenty-first century, innovations are disrupting society with unconventional rules. This thesis investigated how emerging technologies and global megatrends might converge to affect the future of United States drug policy. Through a scenarios-based future studies methodology, global megatrends and other nascent variables intertwine in two fictional scenarios to highlight regulatory and ethical challenges. Thesis findings underscore how it is critical for the United States to remain adaptable and identify general long-term, cyclical forces. Subsequently, it is imperative to analyze how these forces might influence the environment of illicit drug use before current regulatory drug frameworks become obsolete. Thesis findings recommend that the U.S. government decriminalize illicit drugs and transition drug policy from the domain of law enforcement to a strengthened public and behavioral healthcare system. Finally, this thesis also recommends the creation of a national biotech ethics committee and an office of the future., http://archive.org/details/newhighfutureori1094556869, Outstanding Thesis, Policy Advisor, District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health, Washington, DC, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.