Levamisole in cocaine: Unexpected news from an old acquaintance. These potential effects make levamisole an interesting choice as a cocaine adulterant. Crack cocaine, adulterants.
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The Stranger just published an interesting, in-depth look at how the relatively recent practice of cutting cocaine with levamisole might have evovled: [A] 1998 study at Vanderbilt University showed that levamisole eased withdrawal symptoms in mice addicted to morphine. That study caught the attention of Dr. Mike Clark, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harborview Medical Center, who also studies cocaine addiction in lab mice. 'According to the study, levamisole acts on all three monoamine neurotransmitters,' he says. 'That's exactly what you'd expect from something that potentiates cocaine.' In other words, levamisole may heighten cocaine's effects -- or might be a stimulant all by itself. In the next few weeks, Dr. Clark will begin an experiment of his own to find out (among other things) whether levamisole, without any cocaine, can produce cocainelike effects in lab mice. Of course, levamisole is responsible for a host of nasty potential side effects, as the article details. But in Seattle, at least, we may soon have a testing kit: One thing that can be done: develop an inexpensive field-test kit to try to detect levamisole. Dr. Clark has invented such a kit and -- in association with The Stranger, a few folks in the local harm-reduction community, and the People's Harm Reduction Alliance (PHRA), which runs the U-District needle exchange -- hopes to begin distributing kits in a few weeks.. The kits will contain instructions for use, a fact sheet about levamisole and agranulocytosis, and a survey on a prestamped postcard about where and when the cocaine was purchased, whether it's powder or rock cocaine, whether it tested positive for levamisole, and a few other research questions. Hopefully, that data will help us -- me, Dr. Clark, PHRA, and a local harm-reduction organization called DanceSafe -- develop a better understanding of how levamisole-tainted cocaine is distributed through the city and whether some neighborhoods face greater health risks than others. (Is the cocaine you can buy on the street in Georgetown, for example, more or less tainted than the cocaine at some millionaire's house party in Bellevue?) Related Links: Posted By Scotto at 2010-08-18 17:06:39 permalink commentsTags: cocainelevamisoledancesafe» More ways to bookmark this page |
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