Thought for the Day

I've always thought the following would make good toxicology themed names for a rock/metal/punk band:

Gastric Lavage

Postmortem Redistribution

The Iliacs

Antagonism

The LD50s

Serotonin Syndrome



Happy Friday all!


Cheers,

FTG

Sundown

Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" was released in 1974 and is one of my favorite songs. 

 

It was theorized that he wrote the song about former girlfriend/mistress Cathy Smith. Lightfoot has gone on to expand on this in interviews and has actually corroborated that he wrote the song and its lyrics with her on his mind.

Also, if you're a music fan and a drug history fan, you are probably thinking that the name Cathy Smith is familiar to you. It should be. Cathy Smith was a rock music groupie and drug dealer back in the 1970s. She dealt drugs to Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones when they toured as The New Barbarians. Later on, she was the person who injected John Belushi with the fatal speedballs of cocaine and heroin (supposedly 11 total) in 1982. She served 15 months in US prison for that episode and was deported back to Canada after her release.

 

 

Image of John Belushi in Animal House is from http://ravepad.com/page/john-belushi/images

Anyway, Sundown is a song with haunting lyrics, if you put them in perspective of the tumultuous time and relationship between Lightfoot and Smith.

Cheers,

FTG

Another day, another flakka story

A new article centered on flakka was published on CNN.com today. And some of it just makes me shake my head. Blatant misinformation as usual in a few aspects.

 
But like “bath salts”, a group of related synthetic drug that were banned in 2012…

 

No. “Bath salts” weren’t banned in 2012. Three components commonly found in “bath salts” products were banned by 2012. These were MDPV, Mephedrone, and Methylone. More "bath salts" compounds, including alpha-PVP, were banned in 2014.

A small overdose of the drug, which can be smoked, injected, snorted or injected, can lead to a range of extreme symptoms: “excited delirium,” as experts call it, marked by violent behavior; spikes in body temperature (105 degrees and higher, Hall said); paranoia.

Stimulant psychosis. Not excited delirium.

Probably what has brought flakka the most attention is that it gives users what feels like the strength and fury of the Incredible Hulk.

Strength and fury? Nice, but, no, you won't be meeting this guy after taking a dose of flakka (alpha-PVP).

 

Image from Fanpop.com

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-incredible-hulk/images/36100707/title/hulk-avengers-photo

 

But it [flakka] does have one advantage over its predecessor: it has not been banned – yet.

Yes, it has. Alpha-PVP has been considered a Schedule I controlled substance since March 7, 2014. It is banned in the USA.

 

It will probably take several years to get the data necessary to put a federal ban on flakka, he added.

No. It is currently considered a federal Schedule I controlled substance and it isn't coming off that list in any way, shape, or form.



Journalists, there are people out there that could help you, if you'd ask. Please do ask.

Cheers,

FTG

 

National Forensic Laboratory Information System (2014 Midyear Report)

The sampling in the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) report is from state and local United States forensic laboratories. From January 1, 2014-June 30, 2014, 495,836 distinct drug cases were submitted to these labs and analyzed by September 30, 2014. Of those 495,836 drug cases, 813,071 drug reports were identified. Regions are defined as West, Midwest, Northest, and South. The overall report can be found here.

The West is Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska.

The Midwest is North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

The Northeast is Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

The South is Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

The top overall reported drugs were:

1.       Cannabis/THC  (241,057)

a.      West (27,293)

b.      Midwest (79,010)

c.       Northeast (39,044)

d.      South (95,710)

2.      Methamphetamine (121,109)

a.      West (53,509)

b.      Midwest (20,579)

c.       Northeast (1,939)

d.      South (45,082)

3.      Cocaine (119,014)

a.      West (10,708)

b.      Midwest (22,883)

c.       Northeast (26,288)

d.      South (59,135)

4.      Heroin (84,962)

a.      West (14,077)

b.      Midwest (26,614)

c.       Northeast (25,173)

d.      South (19,099)

These four drugs accounted for 70% of all reports in NFLIS.

 

The report classifises drugs substances into various categories. These are narcotic analgesics, tranquilizers and depressants, phenethylamines, and synthetic cannabinoids. The report does discuss anabolic steroids, but I'm not overly concerned with those substances, so we won't list them here.

 

Narcotic Analgesics

Total reports for this classification were 64,934.

1.       Oxycodone (23,132)

a.      West (2,211)

b.      Midwest (4,068)

c.       Northeast (4,743)

d.      South (12,111)

2.      Hydrocodone (17,721)

a.      West (2,455)

b.      Midwest (3,939)

c.       Northeast (1,023)

d.      South (10,304)

3.      Buprenorphine (7,709)

a.      West (623)

b.      Midwest (1,572)

c.       Northeast (2,209)

d.      South (3,306)

4.      Morphine (4,192)

a.      West (661)

b.      Midwest (964)

c.       Northeast (329)

d.      South (2,237)

5.      Methadone (3,077)

6.      Hydromorphone (2,479)

7.      Fentanyl (2,219)

8.      Codeine (1,611)

9.      Tramadol (1,426)

10.   Oxymorphone (932)

11.    Mitragynine (88)

12.   Propoxyphene (78)

13.   Meperidine (57)

14.   Acetylfentanyl (55)

15.   Hydrocodeinone (40)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

South (34,277)

Midwest (13,156)

Northeast (10,311)

West (7,190)

 

Tranquilizers and Depressants

Total reports for this classification were 41,129.

1.       Alprazolam (21,804)

a.      West (1,676)

b.      Midwest (4,067)

c.       Northeast (3,051)

d.      South (13,009)

2.      Clonazepam (6,097)

a.      West (621)

b.      Midwest (1,240)

c.       Northeast (1,143)

d.      South (3,094)

3.      Diazepam (3,013)

a.      West (405)

b.      Midwest (698)

c.       Northeast (261)

d.      South (1,648)

4.      PCP (2,697)

a.      West (217)

b.      Midwest (478)

c.       Northeast (974)

d.      South (1,027)

5.      Carisoprodol (2,023)

6.      Lorazepam (1,241)

7.      Zolpidem (903)

8.      Cyclobenzaprine (626)

9.      Ketamine (574)

10.   Phenobarbital (358)

11.    Methaqualone (348)

12.   Pregabalin (193)

13.   Hydroxyzine (187)

14.   Temazepam (172)

15.   Butalbital (139)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

South (22,353)

Midwest (7,855)

Northeast (6,704)

West (4,217)

 

Phenethylamines

Total reports for this classification were 141,980 cases.

1.       Methamphetamine (121,109)

a.      West (53,509)

b.      Midwest (20,579)

c.       Northeast (1,939)

d.      South (45,082)

2.      Amphetamine (6,101)

a.      West (620)

b.      Midwest (1,551)

c.       Northeast (768)

d.      South (3,163)

3.      Methylone (4,417)

a.      West (540)

b.      Midwest (329)

c.       Northeast (648)

d.      South (2,901)

4.      MDMA (2,347)

a.      West (937)

b.      Midwest (662)

c.       Northeast (188)

d.      South (560)

5.      Alpha-PVP (2,244)

6.      Ethylone (1,426)

7.      Lisdexamphetamine (1,030)

8.      25I-NBOMe (396)

9.      25C-NBOMe (375)

10.   MDA (331)

11.    Phentermine (326)

12.   MDPV (312)

13.   25B-NBOMe (239)

14.   Dimethylone (219)

15.   4-MEC (138)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

West (56,273)

South (56,216)

Midwest (24,753)

Northeast (4,738)

 

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Total reports for this classification were 19,838 cases.

1.       XLR11 (6,602)

a.      West (600)

b.      Midwest (1,230)

c.       Northeast (1,884)

d.      South (2,888)

2.      AB-FUBINACA (4,326)

a.      West (161)

b.      Midwest (988)

c.       Northeast (299)

d.      South (2,878)

3.      AB-PINACA (2,232)

a.      West (197)

b.      Midwest (796)

c.       Northeast (127)

d.      South (1,112)

4.      PB-22 (1,342)

a.      West (39)

b.      Midwest (129)

c.       Northeast (539)

d.      South (635)

5.      5F-PB-22 (758)

6.      UR-144 (512)

7.      AB-CHMINACA (324)

8.      AM-2201 (201)

9.      5F-AKB48 (199)

10.   5F-AB-PINACA (193)

11.    ADB-FUBINACA (161)

12.   FUB-PB-22 (124)

13.   THJ-2201 (117)

14.   AKB48 (106)

15.   JWH-018 (93)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

South (10,684)

Midwest (4,108)

Northeast (3,612)

West (1,435)

_____________________________________________________________________________

Some food for thought here:

THC/marijuana, alprazolam, and oxycodone have been the top of their respective lists for the last few years at the least.

Mitragyine (Kratom) and Propoxyphene, a drug that has been formally removed from the US market since November 2010, have been detected in casework about the same amount.

PCP is still around and more prevalent than I think some folks think.

Methylone cases almost double the number of MDMA detections.

MDMA and Alpha-PVP detections are basically even in this report.

MDPV detections are approximately 7 and 7.5 times less than Alpha-PVP and MDMA cases.

XLR11 is the number one synthetic cannabinoid detected, but the number of cases decreased by about half since 2013.

The INACA synthetic cannabinoid derivatives were starting to become more prevalent beginning of 2014. Only one INACA derivative (AB-FUBINACA) was reported in 2013's midyear report.  The 2015 report will be chocked full with INACAs.

It'll be interesting to see what is reported for the rest of 2014 when the full year report is released (if it is released) or what will be reported in 2015. Of course, in the NFLIS reporting system there are some limitations to using the numbers, so I'd advise you to click on the link above and read what those limitations are.