RAD Bayarea

"Free tested drugs only". Canadian activists this year are giving away free m**h, he**in, and co***ne because they are tested free of Fenty.

Free He**in, Co***ne & M**h Are Being Distributed to Stop Overdoses Activists in Vancouver, Canada are buying drugs on the dark web, testing them for purity and then giving them away for free. They hope to bring attention to ...

The Nov 3rd Oregon decriminalization of he**ine and co***ne marks a turning point in human rights.

RSVP NEEDED: On Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 11 a.m. CT/Noon ET, The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and the AFL-CIO will mark the 57th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, where four girls were killed after white supremacists bombed the church on Sun...

Are you made of cardboard? Why do you have to have som**hing wrong with you to smoke cannabis? Do you want to be dictated to on use? Do you want to be told, to choose one? Why would anyone force that on you? It's time to wake up and sign petitions at San Jose city hall. Everyone, all 3k protesters must sign to stop racial discrimination in every aspect of life, including smoke. Monday or Tuesday.

Distinguishing Coca Leaves Chewing From Co***ne Abuse
Coca leaves have traditionally been used for chewing or brewing tea for centuries among the indigenous population of the Andean region. There is traditional belief that coca chewing causes no harm but helps in overcoming altitude sickness, suppressing fatigue and helping in digestion. Although co***ne is a controlled substance, in some South American countries possession of unprocessed coca leaves may remain generally legal (but not possession of co***ne), or tolerated. For example, in Argentina, law allows chewing coca leaves or drinking coca tea and it is not restricted to native people. Moreover, coca leaf chewing or drinking coca tea is still legal in Bolivia. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between co***ne abuses which are illegal in these countries from legal chewing of coca leaves.

Rubio et al. analyzed 38 urine specimens collected from co***ne abusers and 24 urine specimens collected from people who chewed coca leaves (once a week to several times a day; subjects living in Argentina), and observed the presence of hygrine and cuscohygrine (cuscohygrine is unstable and degrades to hygrine) in urine specimens of all coca leaf chewers but such compounds were absent in urine of co***ne abusers. Sometimes coca leaves were chewed along with alkali in order to improve extraction of co***ne from coca leaves but these two compounds were present in urine regardless of use of alkali during coca chewing. In addition to these biomarkers in urine specimens of individuals chewing coca leaves, co***ne, its metabolite m**hyl ecgonine (benzoylecgonine was not targeted), and cinnamoylco***ne were also detected. Although only one specimen out of 38 collected from co***ne abusers showed the presence of cinnamoylco***ne, the authors commented that it is not a good biomarker of chewing coca leaves because cinnamoylco***ne can be found in seized co***ne and also in urine specimens of some co***ne abusers. The authors concluded that hygrine and cuscohygrine may be used as biomarkers to distinguish between chewing coca leaves and abusing co***ne. These two alkaloids are present in coca leaves and are absorbed during coca leaf chewing but are lost during processing of co***ne from coca leaves [23].

Hair analysis for the presence of co***ne, metabolites of co***ne, and other alkaloids present in coca leaves is also useful to discriminate between chewing coca leaves and abusing co***ne. The authors analyzed hair from 26 Argentinean coca chewers and 22 German co***ne abusers for the presence of co***ne, nor-co***ne, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine m**hyl ester, tropaco***ne, cocaethylene, cinnamoylco***ne, hygrine, and cuscohygrine by using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography in combination with triple-quad mass spectrometry and hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. However, due to lack of reference standard, only qualitative data were obtained for hygrine and cuscohygrine metabolites.

In all coca chewers hygrine (only qualitative data), cuscohygrine (range: 0.028–24.7 ng/mg of hair), and M2 metabolite of cuscohygrine (only qualitative data) were detected along with co***ne (0.085–75.5 ng/mg of hair), benzoylecgonine (0.046–36.5 ng/mg of hair), ecgonine m**hyl ester (0.018–5.6 ng/mg of hair) along with nor-co***ne, cinnamoylco***ne, and tropaco***ne. Cocaethylene was also present in some specimens indicating that some people who chewed coca leaves also consumed alcohol. In co***ne abusers, hair co***ne levels varied from 0.39 to 38.7 ng/mg of hair. In addition, co***ne metabolites benzoylecgonine, ecgonine m**hyl ester, and nor-co***ne were detected in hair of all subjects. Cocaethylene was observed in some species. However, no metabolite of cuscohygrine was detected in any specimen. However, traces of hygrine and cuscohygrine were detected in some specimens. The authors concluded that ratio of cuscohygrine to co***ne, cinnamoylco***ne to co***ne, and ecgonine m**hyl ester to co***ne can differentiate between subjects who chewed coca leaves versus co***ne abuser. Moreover, anhydroecgonine m**hyl ester, a pyrolysis product of co***ne, may be a marker for crack co***ne abuse [24]. Anhydroecgonine, formed during pyrolysis of co***ne during smoking, can also be considered as potential marker for co***ne abuse. Biomarkers used for separating coca leaf chewers from co***ne abusers are listed in Table 32.3.

Table 32.3. Biomarkers to Differentiate Between Chewing Coca Leaves and Abusing Co***ne

Biomarker Comments
Hygrine Always present in coca chewers but usually absent in co***ne abusers or found in trace levels.
Cuscohygrine Always present in coca chewers but usually absent in co***ne abusers or found in trace levels.
Cuscohygrine M2 metabolite Always present in coca chewers but never found in co***ne abusers.
Cuscohygrine/co***ne ratio Value >0.01 indicate coca chewing. In one study the mean ratio was 0.098 in coca chewers compared to mean ratio of 0.004 in co***ne abusers.
Cinnamoylco***ne/co***ne ratio Value >0.02 indicate coca chewing because the mean ratio was 0.087 in coca chewers compared to mean ratio of 0.009 in co***ne abusers.
Ecgonine m**hyl ester/co***ne ratio Value >0.015 indicate coca chewing because the mean ratio was 0.057 in coca chewers compared to mean ratio of 0.0088 in co***ne abusers.
Anhydroecgonine and anhydroecgonine m**hyl ester These compounds may be potential biomarkers of smoking co***ne (crack co***ne).

Halt drug possession charges during pandemic to stem spike in overdose deaths, advocates say | CBC News More than 50 human rights, legal and drug policy groups are pushing the federal government to halt criminal charges for simple drug possession as part of its response to COVID-19, arguing the pandemic has led to more dangerous drug use practices and a spike in overdose deaths.

Time to get to work and help.

UN leads call to protect most vulnerable from mental health crisis during and after COVID-19 Decades of neglect and underinvestment in addressing people’s mental health needs have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN said on Thursday, in a call for ambitious commitments from countries in the way they treat psychological illness, amid a potential global spike in suicides and drug ...

Obama: 'Drug addiction is a health problem, not a criminal problem' Speaking at a drug abuse summit in Atlanta, the US president committed to tackling he**in and prescription opioid epidemic with prevention and treatment