(Press-News.org) Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6042 (Before Aug. 25)
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6293 (Before Aug. 25)
American Chemical Society
New tests for 'legal marijuana,' 'bath salts' and other emerging designer drugs
DENVER, Aug. 30, 2011 — Scientists today reported development of much needed new tests to help cope with a wave of deaths, emergency room visits and other problems from a new genre of designer drugs sold legally in stores and online that mimic the effects of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana. They spoke at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here this week.
The reports, among more than 7,500 on the ACS agenda, focus on drugs sold as "bath salts," "plant food," "incense" and other products with colorful names, such as "Ivory Wave," "Red Dove" and "legal marijuana." They provide users with a high, but many have not yet been made illegal and are undetectable with current drug tests. In one presentation on these "legal highs," a United Kingdom researcher reported a new method to trace the source of the substances in "bath salts." In the other, a U.S. researcher discussed the challenges facing law enforcement and policy makers in regulating synthetic versions of marijuana.
Oliver Sutcliffe, Ph.D., and his collaborators reported the successful use of a method called isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to determine who is making bath salts — drugs that can cause euphoria, paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations when snorted, smoked or injected — and which chemical companies supplied the raw materials. He and his co-workers are based at the University of Strathclyde and the James Hutton Institute in the U.K.
"With the new method, we could work backwards and trace the substances back to the starting materials," said Sutcliffe. IRMS measures the relative amounts of an element's different forms, or isotopic ratio. "This method was successful because the isotopic ratio of the starting material is transferred like a fingerprint through the synthesis," he explained.
"Bath salts" first garnered major media attention in the U.K. in early 2010, and then became a problem in the U.S. These products are not in the supermarket soap aisle — they are sold on the Internet, on the street and in stores that sell drug paraphernalia. They are sold in small individual bags for as low as $20 each for the real purpose of providing a cheap, legal high.
The powders often contain mephedrone, which is a synthetic compound, structurally related to methcathinone, which is found in Khat — a plant that is illegal in many countries, including the U.K. and the U.S. Usually, that would mean that these compounds (and derivatives thereof) would be illegal in those countries too, but because the bath salts are labeled "not for human consumption," they get around this restriction and other legislation governing the supply of medicines for human use. However, Florida and Louisiana — two hotspots of bath salts abuse — specifically banned the substances. U.K. officials banned the import of bath salts, which may lead some in the drug trade to set up clandestine labs on U.K. soil, said Sutcliffe. The new method provides law enforcement with a tool to track down these bath salts manufacturers.
In previous work, Sutcliffe developed the first pure reference standard for mephedrone, as well as the first reliable liquid chromatography test for the substance, which could be easily run in a typical law enforcement lab. The team is also developing a color-change test kit for mephedrone, which he estimates may be available by the end of the year.
In another presentation, Robert Lantz, Ph.D., from the Rocky Mountain Instrumental Laboratories, described another high that is legal in most of the U.S. — synthetic cannabinoids marketed as incense, a spice product or "legal marijuana" that give a high similar to marijuana without showing up in conventional drug tests.
"We can detect synthetic cannabinoids with modern analytical chemistry techniques, such as liquid or gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, but these assays are too expensive for the 5,000-10,000 urine samples that most drug testing labs receive each day," said Lantz. Most labs screen for drugs with less expensive antibody assays, but because the structures of these substances are so dissimilar, different antibodies would likely be required for many of them, driving up the cost of a more comprehensive test.
Synthetic cannabinoid abuse rose sharply in 2010, according to U.S. poison control centers, up to 2,863 compared to only 14 in 2009. About 200 synthetic cannabinoids exist, but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) banned only five of those. A handful of states, such as Washington, Georgia and Colorado, banned five of them, but they are not always the same five that the DEA banned. "The states banned several specific compounds without a particular basis for their choices," Lantz pointed out.
Colorado recently passed a law banning any substance that binds to a cannabinoid receptor in the human body. "The bill was well-intentioned, but technically, the new law not only covers synthetic cannabinoids, but also endocannabinoids, which are naturally occurring substances that the human body produces to regulate many normal processes," said Lantz.
###
The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society contact newsroom@acs.org.
ABSTRACTS:
Dr. Sutcliffe:
The increase in the global abuse of synthetic cathinones has given rise to significant legal and analytical challenges in their identification and quantification - thus rapid methods of testing (especially in the field) are urgently required. This paper presents synthesis; characterisation; validated presumptive and quantitative methods for these substances (both in pure and adulterated samples) and a rapid, novel NMR screening technique for street samples containing components which cannot normally be detected using standard chromatographic methods.
Dr. Lantz:
There is no end to human ingenuity. Unfortunately, this phrase even provides to be true when it comes to methods and means of getting high. Synthetic Cannabinoids, such as JWH-018 which is only one of many such substances (which is currently marketed as K2), and other substances such as Methylone (MDPV) and Mephedrone (which is currently marketed as "Bath Salts" or "Plant Food" respectively) present unique analytical chemistry challenges from a chromatographic point-of-view. Related challenges in terms of quantitation of these substances still exist. In the rush to make illegal and prosecute the possession and use of these substances, errors related the qualitative and quantitative reporting of these compounds can occur. This presentation will examine these challenges that exist and what lies ahead.
New tests for 'legal marijuana,' 'bath salts' and other emerging designer drugs
2011-08-31
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Awareness of ethnicity-based stigma found to start early
2011-08-31
Students are stigmatized for a variety of reasons, with youths from ethnic-minority backgrounds often feeling devalued in school. New research on young children from a range of backgrounds has found that even elementary school children are aware of such stigmatization and, like older youths, feel more anxious about school as a result. Children who are stigmatized are more likely to have less interest in school, yet ethnic-minority children in this study reported high interest in school in the face of stigma. For some students, feeling close to people at school helps them ...
Anxiety interferes with some children's capacity to form friendships
2011-08-31
As children move toward adolescence, they rely increasingly on close relationships with peers. Socially withdrawn children, who have less contact with peers, may miss out on the support that friendships provide. In a new study about the peer relationships of almost 2,500 fifth graders who are socially withdrawn in different ways and those who aren't withdrawn, researchers have found that withdrawn children who can be described as "anxious-solitary" differ considerably in their relationships with peers, compared to other withdrawn children and children who aren't withdrawn.
The ...
Study of childhood bullying shifts focus to victims
2011-08-31
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Many wonder why bullies bully, but a new study looks at the other side of the equation: How do children respond to bullying and why? The answer, researchers say, may lead to more effective interventions to reduce the negative consequences – and perhaps even the frequency – of bullying.
The study appears in the journal Child Development.
"The main question we were interested in is how do children go about selecting strategies for dealing with harassment from their peers?" said University of Illinois psychology professor Karen Rudolph, who led the study. ...
New Section Makes Browsing for Cheap Cruises Easy at Cruise1st
2011-08-31
Cruise1st has added a new Cruise Destinations section to its site, dedicated to providing customers with essential information on the cheap cruises which are available. With the motto Second to None, Cruise1st offers its customer's luxury cruises at affordable prices.
Offering cheap cruises deals to some of the most sought after destinations on the globe, Cruise1st specialises in luxurious packages. Cruise1st claims there is no better way to see the world than on a cruise with the chance to wake up in a new location every day.
With the wide array of cruise liners ...
Aurora Gallery to Host New Hector "Nicer" Nazario Series: "Like a Child at Play"
2011-08-31
Opening September 15th, The Aurora Gallery is proud to host an all-new series from renowned New York City graffiti artist and muralist Hector "Nicer" Nazario. The series, entitled Like a Child at Play, began taking shape after the tragic death of Nicer's only child by a stray bullet in the Bronx in July 2010. Each piece in Like a Child at Play features painted works interpreting Nicer's childhood memories of growing up in New York. This event is free to enter. All works are available for purchase.
"In many ways putting together this series of paintings ...
Youths' social goals help determine response to bullying
2011-08-31
Second and third graders who are bullied react in a variety of ways—from discussing the problem or striking back to seeking emotional support. A new study in the journal Child Development has found that the types of goals children set in their relationships help determine how they respond to being bullied—and whether they choose responses that are effective.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
"Bullying has become a significant focus of media attention and public health concern," according to Karen D. Rudolph, professor ...
Ability to remember memories' origin not fully developed in youths
2011-08-31
During childhood and adolescence, children develop the ability to remember not only past events but the origin of those memories. For example, someone may remember meeting a particular person and the context in which he or she met that person. New research from Germany has found that the ability to remember the origin of memories is a relatively long process that matures during adolescence but isn't fully developed until adulthood.
The study, by researchers at Saarland University, appears in the journal Child Development. Its findings have implications for the legal arena ...
Secure attachment to moms helps irritable babies interact with others
2011-08-31
Children with difficult temperaments are often the most affected by the quality of their relationships with their caregivers. New research suggests that highly irritable children who have secure attachments to their mothers are more likely to get along well with others than those who aren't securely attached.
These findings, from researchers at the University of Maryland, are published in the journal Child Development.
Researchers followed 84 infants from birth to age 2. About a third were characterized as highly irritable, while two-thirds were characterized as moderately ...
Mother-son ties change over time, influence teen boys' behavior
2011-08-31
Relationships between mothers and their sons change during childhood and adolescence. However, not all relationships change in the same way, and how the relationships change may affect boys' behavior when they become teens.
Those are the findings of a new longitudinal study of low-income families by researchers at Wayne State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Montreal, and the University of Oregon. The study appears in the journal Child Development.
The researchers looked at 265 mother-son pairs from low-income families ...
Pardee Homes Offers Reduced Prices at Highlands Village; New Carmel Valley Townhomes From the Mid-$400,000s
2011-08-31
Pardee Homes has announced that they have reduced prices on move-in ready townhomes at Highlands Village at Carmel Country Highlands. The builder is offering this special for a limited time on their popular Plan 1 and Plan 1X models, and will also include $10,000 towards HOA dues or closing costs.
"This is great time to buy and an exceptional opportunity to live the Carmel Valley lifestyle without the typical Carmel Valley price," said Rachel Collins, director of sales for Pardee Homes. "Coastal-close Highlands Village offers affordability, location, lifestyle ...