Illicit drug

BACKGROUND: Privately made firearms (PMFs) or "ghost guns" are homemade, unserialized, untraceable firearms that have been increasingly used in violent crime in the United States. Very little is known about the types of PMFs recovered by law enforcement agencies and the crimes associated with these recoveries. This lack of information limits effective violence prevention policies and practices. Comparative analysis of PMF recoveries in specific cities helps clarify whether local PMF patterns and characteristics vary or reflect more general trends...

Background and Objectives: As cannabis use increases among reproductive-aged women, there is a growing need to better understand the presence of cannabinoids in milk produced by women using cannabis. It is unclear how concentrations of cannabinoids such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9 -THC) persist in milk after cannabis use and what factors contribute to variation in milk Δ9 -THC concentrations. Our objectives were to measure cannabinoids in human milk following cannabis abstention, after single and repeated instances of cannabis use, and identify factors contributing to concentration variation...

BACKGROUND: The extent of illicit drug use among university students necessitates effective preventive programs. To identify and assess the effectiveness of university-based interventions in preventing or reducing illicit drug use. METHODS: The MEDLINE (PubMed), SCOPUS, ISI (Web of Science), and other sources were searched according to the Cochrane Collaboration method. RCTs, CRTs and non- RCTs evaluating university-based interventions designed to prevent illicit drug use were reviewed...

The illegal drug market is constantly evolving, with new drugs being created and existing ones being modified. Adulterants are often added to the mix, and the primary substance may be secretly replaced by a new one. Once-known tablets can now be vastly different from what they are sold as, all due to the pursuit of profit and evasion of current drug regulations. These alterations in drug composition pose a threat to society, as their effects are still not well understood. Therefore, it is crucial for police intelligence and public health development to obtain the chemical profiles of illicit drugs...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the incidence and pattern of tramadol-induced seizures and injuries in patients admitted to the hospital. METHODS: The cross-sectional study included 300 patients with alleged tramadol intoxication. Demographic information, tramadol dosage and duration of abuse, co-existing illicit drug abuse, hospital stay length, and occurrence of seizures and trauma (type and site of injuries) were collected. Different statistical tests, including the Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson's Chi-square test, and Student's t-test, were conducted to compare the patients with and without seizures, trauma, and co-ingestion of illicit drugs...

Illicit drug supply adulteration can heighten the risk for adverse health outcomes. Sulfonylurea medications are widely used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM). Unintentional or intentional overdose of sulfonylureas can cause refractory hypoglycemia. This case report describes a 62-year-old male patient who presented to the emergency department (ED) after being found on the ground with signs of mild trauma. He was noted to be persistently hypoglycemic despite boluses of intravenous dextrose, a dextrose infusion, and oral nutrition...

Combined use of alcohol and illicit drugs is a serious health and social problem. In this study, it was examined, whether a relationship between alcohol and drug abuse can be ascertained by comparison of alcohol marker and drug concentrations in hair. In the frame of a social support system for families with parental abuse of illicit drugs, hair samples were analyzed between 2011 and 2022 for methadone, heroin (6-acetylmorphine), cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy (MDMA), cannabinoids (THC), and the alcohol markers ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl palmitate (EtPa)...

The opioid overdose crisis is a global health challenge. Fentanyl, an exceedingly potent synthetic opioid, has emerged as a leading contributor to the surge in opioid-related overdose deaths. The surge in overdose fatalities, particularly due to illicitly manufactured fentanyl and its contamination of street drugs, emphasizes the urgency for drug-testing technologies that can quickly and accurately identify fentanyl from other drugs and quantify trace amounts of fentanyl. In this paper, gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-decorated single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-based field-effect transistors (FETs) are utilized for machine learning-assisted identification of fentanyl from codeine, hydrocodone, and morphine...

BACKGROUND: In response to the overdose crisis, a collaborative group of two community-based organizations, a health authority and a research institute in Vancouver, Canada, implemented a pilot community-based drug checking (CBDC) intervention for sexual and gender minority (SGM) men. This study identified key factors that influenced the implementation of the CBDC intervention, including opportunities and challenges. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven pertinent parties involved in the CBDC, including policymakers, researchers and representatives from community-based organizations...

The United Nations World Drug Report published in 2022 alarmed that the global market of illicit drugs is steadily expanding in space and scale. Substances of abuse are usually perceived in the light of threats to human health and public security, while the environmental aspects of their use and subsequent emissions usually remain less explored. However, as with other human activities, drug production, trade, and consumption of drugs may leave their environmental mark. Therefore, this paper aims to review the occurrence of illicit drugs in surface waters and their bioaccumulation and toxicity in fish...

New Psychoactive Substances are currently a serious and growing problem affecting public health worldwide. By 2022, 1184 of these substances had been identified over a period of 16 years. Within these, α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP) and α-pyrrolidinoisohexanophenone (α-PiHP) have emerged, two synthetic cathinones from the pyrovalerone derivates subgroup that are positional isomers of each other. Alpha-PHP appeared on the Japanese illicit drug market in 2014 and, two years later, α-PiHP was identified for the first time in China...

BACKGROUND: Cluster headache (CH) is a debilitating condition, but current therapies leave CH patients in pain. The extent of this problem in Sweden is unknown. METHODS: An anonymized questionnaire was sent to 479 Swedish CH patients to investigate patterns and perceived effects of treatments. RESULTS: Three hundred fourteen answers were analyzed. The population was representative regarding age of onset and sex. Less than half (46%) were satisfied with their abortive treatments, 19% terminated functioning abortive treatments due to side effects...

Synthetic cathinones, derived from cathinone found in the plant Catha edulis, represent the second largest and most frequently seized group of new psychoactive substances. They are considered as β-keto analogs of amphetamine, sharing pharmacological effects with amphetamine and cocaine. This review describes the neurotoxic properties of synthetic cathinones, encompassing their capacity to induce neuroinflammation, dysregulate neurotransmitter systems, and alter monoamine transporters and receptors. Additionally, it discusses the rewarding and abuse potential of synthetic cathinones drawing from findings obtained through various preclinical animal models, contextualized with other classical psychostimulants...

BACKGROUND: The increase in the use of psychoactive substances, alcohol and cigarettes in young people has become a public health problem. The identification of factors that increase or reduce the risk of exposure to these substances and the possible relationship between them is essential for planning strategies with a risk approach; hence the reason for this study. The objective was to establish the profile of use of psychoactive substances, alcohol and cigarettes and the factors associated with such use in nursing students of a higher education institution...

BACKGROUND: In Sweden, as in other countries, individuals with immigrant backgrounds are disproportionately represented within the incarcerated population. This study examined the association between immigrant background and future incarceration for individuals assessed for illicit substance use severity, while considering their prior incarceration history. METHODS: Using data from Swedish Addiction Severity Index (ASI) assessments linked to register data from Statistics Sweden, we employed Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) regression models to analyse differences in incarceration histories within five years before and after ASI assessments based on immigrant backgrounds...

OBJECTIVE: Consensus guidelines on the optimal management of infected arterial pseudoaneurysms secondary to groin injecting drug use are lacking. This pathology is a problem in the UK and globally, and operative management options remain contentious. This study was designed to establish consensus to promote better management of these patients, drawing on the expert experience of those in a location with a high prevalence of illicit drug use. METHODS: A three round modified Delphi was undertaken, systematically surveying consultant vascular surgeons in the UK and Ireland using an online platform...

Malachite green (MG) has been illicitly employed in aquaculture as a parasiticide, however, its teratogenic and carcinogenic effects pose a significant human health threat. Herein, a dual-mode colorimetric and electrochemical aptasensor was fabricated for MG detection, capitalizing on the robust catalytic and peroxidase-like activity of P-CeO2 NR@Mxene and good capture efficiency of a tetrahedral DNA nanostructure (TDN) designed with multiple aptamers (m-TDN). P-CeO2 NR@Mxene-modified complementary DNA (cDNA) served as both colorimetric and electrochemical probe...

BACKGROUND: Theories suggest that experiences of negative and positive affect are important precursors to alcohol and illicit substance use. Research utilizing ecological momentary assessments (EMA) has generally supported the relation between momentary experiences of positive affect, but not negative affect, and subsequent substance use. Unfortunately, most of these studies have focused on alcohol use and not other substance use. The goal of this paper was to further explore the relation between momentary affect and use of both alcohol and illicit substances within a population of individuals with a history of substance use...

BACKGROUND: A heated tobacco product (HTP) authorized for purchase in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration as a reduced harm product was removed from the market after about 2 years of sales. Adults who used the HTP were surveyed to determine the impact of the introduction and removal of the HTP on past and current tobacco behaviors. METHODS: Adults who were using the HTP before its United States market removal (n = 502) completed a cross-sectional online survey to determine their tobacco use behaviors at three timepoints: prior to HTP initiation, just before HTP market removal, and at the time of the survey which was administered approximately 10 months post-removal...

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) represent a broad class of drugs new to the illicit market that often allow passing drug-screening tests. They are characterized by a variety of structures, rapid transience on the drug scene and mostly unknown metabolic profiles, thus creating an ever-changing scenario with evolving analytical targets. The present study aims at developing an indirect screening strategy for NPS monitoring, and specifically for new synthetic opioids (NSOs), based on assessing changes in endogenous urinary metabolite levels as a consequence of the systemic response following their intake...