Illicit drugs cocaine

Illicit drugs Cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)... 

A particularly devastating substance that affects neurotransmission is the illicit drug cocaine, which blocks catecholamine uptake at nerve terminals. Addictive cocaine is particularly dangerous because it can cross the blood-brain barrier readily. 

This chapter describes research by an interdisciplinary and international team focused on the preparation and evaluation of some dispersions of nanomatetials having potential application for injection into overdosed humans and to reverse cardiac toxicity by absorbing or binding the toxin. Specifically, the commonly overdosed therapeutics amiodarone, amitriptyline, and bupivacaine, and the illicit drug cocaine, are the deleterious chemicals under consideration for rapid reduction in concentration in blood. 

An interesting recent example (Castiglioni 2006) describes an LC-ESI-MS/MS method for the determination of the illicit drugs cocaine, amphetamines, morphine, cannabinoids, methadone and some of their metabolites in wastewater (both treated and untreated). Quantitation was achieved in the low ng.L range, with overall variability <10%. Cocaine and metabohtes, amphetamines, morphine and metabolites, methadone and its main metabolite, and 11-nor-9-carboxy-A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (the main metabolite of tetrahydro-catmabinol), were aU measured in significant amounts in influents and effluents of two wastewater treatment plants, indicating possible environmental risks to pubhc health. 

M First report in a journal eonfirming the presence of an illicit drug (cocaine) on banknotes in general circulation) (objective to distinguish drug money from innocenf money) Aaron and Lewis (1987)... 

A First targeted analysis of ambient air for an illicit drug cocaine quantified in particulates from all air sampled around Rome and several other Mediterranean locations (also in air samples archived several years prior) Cecinato and Balducci (2007)... 

WW First time that illicit drugs (cocaine, BZE, and morphine) monitored monthly in the sewage from an entire city over the course of a year Mari et al. (2009)... 

The toxicological or cumulative effect of illicit drugs on the ecosystems has not been studied yet. Moreover, their fate and transport in the environment is to a big extent still unknown. Due to their physical-chemical properties (octanol-water partition coefficient, solubility, etc.) some of them, such as cannabinoids, are likely to bioaccumulate in organisms or concentrate in sediments whereas the rest, much more polar compounds, will tend to stay in aqueous environmental matrices. However, continuous exposure of aquatic organisms to low aquatic concentrations of these substances, some of them still biologically active (e.g., cocaine (CO), morphine (MOR) and MDMA) may cause undesirable effects on the biota. 

Up to 16 illicit drugs and metabolites belonging to five different chemical classes (cocainics, cannabinoids, opioids, amphetamine-like, and lysergic compounds) were analyzed in the collected samples. High purity (>97%) standard solutions... 

According to the estimates performed, cocaine is the most consumed drug, followed by cannabis, amphetamine, heroin, MDMA, and methamphetamine. On the contrary, official national annual prevalence data points out cannabis as the most abused illicit drug, followed by cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and heroin. This suggests that the drug consumption pattern in the studied areas of the Ebro River... 

The present work reports on the presence of illicit drugs and metabolites in waste and surface waters of the Ebro River basin. In agreement to previous works done in this line in other locations of Spain and in diverse European countries, the most abundant and ubiquitous compounds in waters were cocaine and its major metabolite benzoy-lecgonine, and the amphetamine-like compounds ephedrine and ecstasy. Removal of these compounds during wastewater treatment processes was considered satisfactory for most compounds, but not enough to avoid the presence of these... 

The analysis of codeine, morphine, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM, a metabohte of heroin), and cocaine is important for many toxicology labs to determine illicit drug use. When analyzing opiates in urine samples, frequently the matrix chosen for drug screening, the conjugated metabolites must be hydrolyzed however, this process can break down 6-MAM (Christophersen et al., 1987). These compounds can be derivatized to increase sensitivity, and both BCD and NPD are used for these assays. Derivatizations used include reaction with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide followed by GC-FID (Lin et al., 1994) or with N,0-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (Christophersen et al., 1987 Lee and Lee, 1991), PFPA (Christophersen et al., 1987), or heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFBA) followed by GC-ECD. All these methods show good sensitivity and selectivity. 

Viana M, Postigo C, Querol X, Alastuey A, Alda MJLd, Barceld D, Artinano B, Lopez-Mahia P, Gacio DG, Cots N (2011) Cocaine and other illicit drugs in airborne particulates in urban environments a reflection of social conduct and population size. Environ Pollut 159 (5) 1241-1247... 

O Brien, C.P. 8c G.E. Woody (1994). In G.G. Nahas 8c C. Latour (Eds.), Physiopathology of illicit drugs Cannabis, cocaine, opiates (219-232). Oxford Pergamon Press. 

In the past decade. Ecstasy use has exploded. In fact, although overall illicit drug use by teens markedly decreased in the past several years — including use of marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, LSD, cocaine, crack, heroin, tranquilizers, alcohol, cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco — Ecstasy use continued to rise, unabated (Figure 5.1). 

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