Lacing (drugs)

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(Redirected from
Cutting agent
)
See also: Counterfeit illegal drug selling
For impure street drugs, see Clandestine chemistry § Contamination.
For deterioration of the quality of the substance caused by naturally as well as a result of environmental factors such as heat, humidity etc, see Contamination.

Lacing or cutting, in

adulterate
substances independent of the reason. The resulting substance is laced or cut.

Some

street drugs
are commonly laced with other chemicals for various reasons, but it is most commonly done to bulk up the original product or to sell other, cheaper drugs in the place of something more expensive. Individuals sometimes lace their own drugs with another substance to combine or alter the physiological or psychoactive effects.

Overview

The classical model of drug cutting refers to the way that illicit drugs were diluted at each stage of the chain of distribution.[1]

Drug markets have changed considerably since the 1980s; greater competition, and a shift from highly structured (and thus controlled) to greatly fragmented markets, has generated competition among dealers in terms of purity. Many drugs that reach the street are now only cut at the manufacture/producer stage, and this may be more a matter of lacing the drug with another substance designed to appeal to the consumer, as opposed to simple diluents that increase the profit for the seller. The extent of cutting can vary significantly over time but for the last 15 years drugs such as heroin and cocaine have often sat at the 50% purity level.[citation needed] Heroin purity sitting at 50% does not mean 50% cutting agents; other adulterants could include other opiate by-products of making heroin from opium.[citation needed] Coomber,[2] after having street heroin seizures from the UK re-analysed, reported that nearly 50% of the samples had no cutting agents present at all. This means that 50% of street heroin in the UK in 1995 had worked its way from producer to user without being cut at any stage, although other adulterants may have been present. Other research outlined how drug dealers have other ways of making profit without having to resort to cutting the drugs they sell.[3]

Cocaine has been cut with various substances ranging from flour and powdered milk to ground drywall, mannitol, baking soda, and other common, easily obtainable substances.[citation needed]

Most hard drugs are adulterated to some degree. Some street drugs can be as low as 10–15% of the active drug, with the other (85–90%) not necessarily being the cutting agent. In fact a heroin sample of only 20% purity may have no cutting agents in it at all. The other 80% may be impurities produced in the manufacturing process and substances created as by products of this process and/or degradation of the drug if improperly stored.

When choosing a cutting agent, the drug manufacturer or dealer would ideally attempt to find a chemical that is inexpensive, easy to obtain, relatively non-toxic, and mimics the physical attributes of the drug to be adulterated. For example, if a drug is

soluble
in water, the preferred adulterant would also be water-soluble. Similar melting and boiling points are also important if the drug is to be smoked.

Types of lacing agents

See also: Film coating

Non-psychoactive lacing agents

Visually mimics

Some fake drugs consist of substances from relatively harmless sources, such as grocery store goods like flour, oregano or allergy pills. Even despite the substances' harmlessness, legal penalties for the crime of selling them can include time in jail.[4][5]

Flavor masker

Cocaine adulterated with fruit flavoring

Sometimes a flavor masker is added to give a more pleasant experience.

Psychoactive mimics

Lacing/cutting agents may be psychoactive.[6]

Certain fake drugs include other controlled drugs, or they may include synthetic drugs with similar properties. Uncertainty of an identity of the substance may increase the risk of an

overdose.[citation needed
]

A related, yet distinct, problem is the trade of counterfeit medications with pills including substances such as fentanyl which can be used recreationally.[7][8]

Reasons for lacing

Illegal drug trade

Main articles: Counterfeit illegal drug selling and Illegal drug trade

Drugs may be sold to end users who are unaware they have been laced or are unaware what was used to lace them. At various points in the supply chain, in order to maximize profitability, many drugs are adulterated with

cutting agents. Substances with similar physical and/or chemical properties can be used so the end product most closely resembles what it is purported to be. Inert substances with similar physical properties can be used to increase weight without changing the look and feel. Less expensive or easier to obtain compounds with similar chemical properties may be used to lace heavily adulterated drugs while still maintaining some psychoactive potency.[citation needed
]

Mickey Finn

Main article: Mickey Finn (drugs)

In slang, a Mickey Finn—or simply a Mickey—is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them.

Poly drug use

Main article:
Poly drug use

Drugs may also be laced with the end user being made aware of the lacing. In this case, rather than as an adulteration, the lacing is intended to make the product more desirable. Sometimes less potent, often less expensive drugs, are laced with a small amount of a more potent, often more expensive drug. This may be used to facilitate the ingestion of drugs or to allow the simultaneous ingestion of multiple drugs. Cigarettes laced with PCP allow users to take in the liquid PCP through smoking and some multi drug users report intentionally buying marijuana laced with methamphetamine.[9]

Commonly laced substances

Dietary supplements

CBD

  • synthetic cannabinoids.[10]

Street drugs

Drug 1 Drug 2 Drug 3 Poly drug name[11] Intoxication name Comment
Any
synthetic opioids
 Opioids Gray death Synthetic opioids sold to maximize profitability
Alcohol Barbiturates Geronimo. Wild geronimo
Alcohol Chloral hydrate
Mickey Finn
 In slang, a Mickey Finn—or simply a Mickey—is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them.
Alcohol (moonshine) Methanol List of methanol poisoning incidents
Cannabis
Embalming fluid
 Illy. Love boat[12] The use of fry (embalming fluid and PCP-laced cigarettes or marijuana sticks) among crack cocaine smokers.[13] Embalming fluid has been found as a by-products of PCP manufacture.[14]
Cannabis Formaldehyde PCP Wet Marijuana cigarettes dipped into or laced with other substances, typically formaldehyde, phencyclidine, or both, are known as "wet" and have caused respiratory failure.[15]
Cannabis Formaldehyde Clicker, dank. Love boat[12] Marijuana cigarettes dipped into or laced with other substances, typically formaldehyde, phencyclidine, or both, are known as "wet" and have caused respiratory failure.[15]
Cannabis PCP
Embalming fluid
 Fry, fry sticks. Love boat[12] Embalming fluid has been found as a by-products of PCP manufacture.[14]
Crack-cocaine
 Benzocaine Coco snow Crack cut with benzocaine. Benzocaine is a dental anaesthetic that mimics coke's numbing effect.
Crack-cocaine
 Procaine Double rock Crack cut with procaine. Procaine is a dental anaesthetic that mimics coke's numbing effect.
LSD Strychnine Back breakers (sometimes backbreaker) Strychnine has been found in murder or attempted murder investigations where someone was being specifically targeted for poisoning.
Heroin Motion sickness medication Polo This combination caused dozens of overdoses in Newark, New Jersey, the police and doctors said they suspected that one dealer in the area had been trying to improve his profit margin by diluting his heroin supply with scopolamine, the main ingredient in skin patches used to prevent motion sickness.[16]
Heroin Scopolamine or strychnine Spike Strychnine has been found in murder or attempted murder investigations where someone was being specifically targeted for poisoning.[16]
Heroin Xylazine Tranq Xylazine is a horse anesthetic. Heroin is now commonly laced or replaced with Fentanyl.
PCP Gasoline Octane PCP laced with gasoline. Cigarettes or joints are soaked in the solution that quickly evaporates.

Depressants

Heroin

dextrose, mannitol, and starch
.

Other

opioids are sometimes sold as heroin or cut with heroin. Fentanyl sold as or laced into heroin has made the news in the past due to the numerous fatalities it causes when it appears on the market. Recently, Fentanyl and close analogues have been produced in pure powder form for very cheap. Dealers may cut with or sell heroin with Fentanyl due to the street cost of Fentanyl versus the cost of heroin. The potency of such mixtures (especially if made carelessly) can be far above that of pure heroin, and users frequently overdose due to this. Gray death is a street drug in the United States. Samples have been found to contain the designer drug U-47700, heroin and opioids including fentanyl and carfentanil.[17]

α-Methylfentanyl

In 1976, α-Methylfentanyl ("China White") began to appear mixed with heroin, as an additive, and the mixture was sometimes also called "China White". It was first identified in the bodies of two drug overdose victims in Orange County, California, in December 1979, who appeared to have died from opiate overdose but tested negative for any known drugs of this type.[18] Over the next year, there were 13 more deaths, and eventually the responsible agent was identified as α-methylfentanyl.[19]

Stimulants

Stimulants are drugs that speed or give a mental boost to the consumer.

Cocaine

Black cocaine, and cocaine paste, are impure forms of cocaine.

The most common cocaine adulterants found in 1998 in samples in Rome, Italy were lidocaine and caffeine.[20] Cocaine is sometimes mixed with methylamphetamine, methylphenidate, and ephedrine, but is usually mixed with non psychoactive chemicals such as mannitol, inositol, pectin, glucose, lactose, saccharin, white rice flour, and maltodextrin.[citation needed] Other of agranulocytosis, including 2 deaths, according to an alert from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The emergence of fentanyl-laced cocaine has led to an increase in cocaine overdose fatalities in New York City.[21]

Methamphetamine

MSM is sometimes used as a cutting agent for illicitly manufactured methamphetamine.

Psychedelics

Cannabis

Cannabis products that are laced are usually laced with synthetic cannabinoids:

  • Counterfeit cannabis-liquid (c-liquid) for e-cigarettes: Synthetic cannabinoids are increasingly offered in e-cigarette form as "c-liquid".[22]
  • Counterfeit cannabis buds: Hemp buds (or low-potency cannabis buds) laced with synthetic cannabinoids.[23][24][25][26]
  • Counterfeit cannabis edible: The Florida Poison Information Center in Jacksonville warned parents in September 2020 that the number of people poisoned by fake marijuana edibles and candies has tripled.[27]
  • Counterfeit hash oil: Several school kids in Greater Manchester collapsed after vaping synthetic cannabinoids mis-sold as THC vape.[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]
  • Counterfeit
    5F-MDMB-PINACA (5F-ADB).[37]

Less common psychoactive substances used to adulterate cannabis:

  • Erectile dysfunction drugs: In the Netherlands two chemical
    marijuana.[38]
  • Methamphetamine: psychiatrist Dr Bill MacEwan believes that drug dealers in British Columbia are intentionally lacing cannabis with methamphetamine to make it more addictive. He had some psychiatric patients that claimed they only smoked pot but their drug tests were positive for methamphetamine use.[9]
  • PCP: Rarely, cannabis (especially that of low quality) is laced with PCP, particularly in the United States.[39] However, it is not always done surreptitiously. Dealers who do so often (but not always) advertise their wares as being "enhanced" with other substances, and charge more money than they would otherwise, even if they do not say exactly what the lacing agents are. Such concoctions are often called "fry", "wet", "illy", "sherm", "water-water", "dust(ed)", "super weed", "grecodine" or other names.[40]

Weight cutting agents:

Ecstasy

Black market

dimethylamylamine to increase its stimulant effects. Ecstasy pills might also contain a low dose of 2C-I to potentiate its euphoric effects. Pharmaceutical pills are sometimes sold as ecstasy, as well as pills that contain no psychoactive chemicals at all. Ecstasy sometimes contains 10 mg to 20 mg of baclofen to reduce overheating caused by ecstasy. para-Methoxyamphetamine (PMA or "Dr. Death", a drug that causes so much overheating that it can kill within 40 minutes) is sometimes sold as ecstasy.[citation needed] There is one published case[47] of an ecstasy tablet being adulterated with 8 mg of strychnine, a toxic alkaloid which was used in very low doses (less than 1 mg) as a stimulant and performance-enhancing drug in the past. Recently, several groups advocating for drug safety through education have made reagent testing products available to confirm what substances there are.[48]

LSD

LSD is virtually never laced with other chemicals[citation needed], but other lysergamides such as ALD-52 are sometimes sold as LSD-25. DOB, DOI, and other closely related drugs are sometimes sold as LSD. Several other highly potent hallucinogens such as Bromo-DragonFLY or 25I-NBOMe can be found in the form of blotters. LSD is also tasteless in normal dosages, so detection is only possible after ingestion or reagent testing. For these reasons, it is not uncommon to find blotters sold as LSD completely devoid of psychoactive substances.

Prescription medication

As the sources of prescription medication on the street are not verifiable through legitimate channels, misrepresentation of prescription medications is a common practice.

Deaths

Case reports in commercial products

Alcohol

In June 2022, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority warned that the 3-liter champagne bottle from Moët & Chandon Ice Impérial contained MDMA, killing a person in Germany.[49]

Polydrug intoxication deaths

See also: Gray death

Nine deaths occurred in Sweden during 2010–11 relating to use of Krypton, a mixture of kratom, caffeine and

O-desmethyltramadol, a metabolite of the opioid analgesic tramadol.[50][51]

A drug called Voodoo that has gained popularity among Egyptian youth, intoxicated seventy-one individuals, and killed two, in 2017. The drug samples contained synthetic cannabinoids, amphetamine, tramadol, methadone, MDA, benzodiazepines, morphine derivatives, and penitrem A (a neurotoxin).[52]

Testing

Reagent testing

Reagent testing kits are available online and also sold at some head shops. These kits claim to be able to identify common adulterants in ecstasy.

Professional lab tests

There are services available for testing the contents of an ecstasy pill that can tell the user what chemicals are contained in the pill and at what ratio. The results are then posted on their website along with every other pill that they have tested. The tests are considered to be highly accurate. Their services were at one time free, but when they ran out of funding they had to charge a fee for every pill tested.[53]

See also

References

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    .
  2. ^ Coomber, Ross. "How Often Does the Adulteration/Dilution of Heroin Actually Occur: An Analysis of 228 'Street' Samples Across the UK (1995–1996) and Discussion of Monitoring Policy". International Journal of Drug Policy. 8 (4): 178–186.
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  4. ^ "Boston's Criminal Defense Attorney - Keegan Law". 17 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Counterfeit & Synthetic Drugs - Davis Law Group". Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  6. S2CID 243761335
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  7. ^ "Does Crime Pay When It Comes to Fake Drugs? - RealClearHealth". Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  8. ^ "DEA Considers Fentanyl-Containing Counterfeit Medications a Global Threat – Partnership for Safe Medicines". www.safemedicines.org. August 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  9. ^ a b Meth-laced pot a huge problem, experts say Canada.com January 27, 2006.
  10. ^ "How the Associated Press collected information on CBD vapes". Associated Press. September 16, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  11. ^ Copping, Jasper (8 November 2009). "Drug slang: what police must learn A to B".
  12. ^ a b c Veronese, Keith (February 26, 2012). "The street drug Love Boat comes in many brain-warping varieties". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
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  17. ^ Lehman, Pamela. "Bethlehem police find first case of deadly drug known as 'gray death'".[permanent dead link]
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  22. ^ Angerer V, Moosman B, Franz F, Auwärter V (2015). "5F-cumyl-PINACA in 'e-liquids' for electronic cigarettes – A new type of synthetic cannabinoid in a trendy product" (PDF). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  23. ^ "Fake Hanf: Ein Drogentrend schwappt in die Schweiz – was du darüber wissen musst". watson.ch (in German).
  24. ^ "Fake Hanf: Tödliches Marihuana hat bereits 61 Menschen getötet". watson.ch (in German).
  25. ^ "Fake Hanf mit synthetischen Cannabinoiden besprüht - drugcom". www.drugcom.de.
  26. ^ "Tödlicher Fake Hanf - Chemisch behandelte Hanfblüten – niemand kann sie erkennen". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 14 August 2020.
  27. ^ Harris, Jenese (22 September 2020). "Calls about poisonings from fake marijuana edibles, candy triple". WJXT.
  28. ^ McLennan, William (22 September 2018). "Vapers tricked into buying synthetic cannabis-laced product". The Observer.
  29. ^ "Health warning issued over fake "THC vape" that contains "spice"". www.christie.nhs.uk. Archived from the original on 2020-02-26. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  30. ^ "Eight pupils collapse after vaping Spice missold as THC vape". Metro. 17 December 2019.
  31. ^ Day, Rebecca (16 July 2019). "Schoolchildren have collapsed after vaping Spice". men.
  32. ^ "Schoolchildren collapse after unknowingly inhaling spice vape". The Independent. 16 July 2019.
  33. ^ Tahsin, Jamie (10 December 2019). "If You Buy Weed Vapes in the UK, Beware – But Not for the Reason You Think". Vice.
  34. ^ "Health warning as nine young people collapse after using 'spice' vape". ITV News.
  35. ^ "Health warning as nine youths collapse after using 'spice' vape". www.lep.co.uk.
  36. ^ "Health warning as nine youths collapse after using 'Spice' vape". www.thestar.co.uk.
  37. ^ EcstasyData.org, DrugsData org / Erowid /. "DrugsData.org (formerly called EcstasyData): Test Details : Result #8255 - Fake Hash, 8255". www.drugsdata.org.
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  39. ^ Dowty, Douglass (August 3, 2009). "Illegal drug users dip into embalming fluid". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, NY. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
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  48. ^ Staff Writer (December 29, 2003). "MDMA Testing Kit". Erowid Center.
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Further reading

  • Coomber, R. (1997) Vim in the Veins – Fantasy or Fact: The Adulteration of Illicit Drugs, Addiction Research, Vol 5, No. 3. pp. 195-212
  • Coomber, R. (1997) ‘Adulteration of Drugs: The Discovery of a Myth', Contemporary Drug Problems, Vol 24, No. 2. pp. 239-271
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