Paranoia

The scope of my comments will cover not the development of analytical methods but rather the process of choosing methods which give useful answers to the questions posed by the research chemist, the process engineer or the product marketing manager. The analytical chemist is always faced with the paranoia causing problem of not being able to be confident in a purity measurement until it can be shown that impurities do not interfere. 

When performing the initial development work it is best to try to obtain corroboration of one method by another. This helps avoid the paranoia. 

Gelernter J, Kranzler HR, Satel SL, et al Genetic association between dopamine transporter protein alleles and cocaine-induced paranoia. Neuropsychopharmacology 11 195-200, 1994... 

Large or quickly repeating doses over a period of hours can led to extreme anxiety, paranoia and even hallucinations. These effects usually disappear as the drug is eliminated from the body. The after-effects of cocaine and crack use may include fatigue and depression as people come down from the high. Excessive doses can cause death from respiratory or heart failure but this is rare. 

Initially, most prominent effect is elated mood, although depression may occur hypervigilance and anxiety that may progress to panic with high doses or chronic use, may see impairment of judgment, violence to others or self, paranoia or psychosis with delusions and hallucinations (hallucinations are generally tactile or auditory, rarely visual) an increase in motor activity is common compulsive or stereotyped behavior (e.g., skin picking) may be seen severe intoxication may result in a self-limited delirium... 

Euphoria or giddiness and increase in appetite may occur depending on the social setting and the amount ingested, may see panic, paranoia, hallucinations, depersonalization or delirium... 

The average increase in rCMR after THC administration was less in marijuana users than in controls, and users had lower cerebellar metabolism than the controls at baseline [8]. Thus the cerebellum shows the greatest metabolic increase in response to acute THC and responds to chronic marijuana exposure with a decrease in baseline CMR. Habitual users but not controls responded to THC administration with increased rCMR in prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and basal ganglia. In contrast to the robust effects of THC on relative rCMR, changes in global CMR in response to THC were quite variable, with increases, decreases, and no changes seen in equal numbers of subjects. There was also variability in subjective effects, which were pleasurable for most subjects but either minimal or unpleasant (anxiety or paranoia) for others. 

Gawin F. Neuroleptic reduction of cocaine-induced paranoia, but not euphoria Psychopharmacology. 90 142, 1986. 

Satel S. Craving for and fear of cocaine A phenomenologic update on cocaine craving and paranoia. In Kosten T., Kleber H., Eds. Clinician s Guide to Cocaine Addiction. Guilford Press, New York, 1992, 172. 

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