Experts question Health Canada claims over W-18 drug, call for more research

[S.J.B.]

Experts question Health Canada claims over W-18 drug, call for more research
Geordon Omand
CBC
June 11th, 2016

Experts are questioning widely circulated Health Canada claims that the drug W-18 is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, or that the new arrival to the illicit-drug scene is even technically an opioid.

Dr. David Juurlink, head of pharmacology and toxicology at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, said that while W-18 could very well be dangerous more research is needed before conclusions can be drawn about its chemical behaviour and potency.

"The main thing we know is that we don't know very much," Juurlink said in an interview. "It's clearly a chemical and it does something but what exactly it does is not clear."

What is known is that W-18 is a synthetic compound created and patented at a University of Alberta laboratory as a potential pain reliever in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was one of 32 chemicals produced in the so-called W-series, none of which were ever produced commercially.

As of June 1, Canada made it illegal to produce, possess, import, export or traffic W-18 after the substance was identified during several illicit-drug seizures.

Read the full story here.

It's refreshing to see a mainstream article that takes a step back from all the drug horror stories full of unsubstantiated claims. I'm especially happy to see someone making it clear that potency is not necessarily proportional to toxicity, as this is a fallacy that we see in the media all the time.

 

[szuko000]

That's great because lately my local paper has been running stories on W-18 and people who don't understand anything eat that whole "it's worse then fentanyl" up. Naturally my attempts to dispel the idea is met with mockery, not even arguments. It's nice to see someone's saying "can we allow for some research before making claims?"

 

[manboychef]

Why can't the classic drugs just be legal? It would solve all these problems.

 

[belligerent drunk]

^ yesterday I was reading some local government agency's news article about RCs/NPS (novel psychoactive substances), in which they explained why they were banning whole classes of substances (going in the same direction as UK with its blanket ban I guess). It made my brain hurt just reading that bunch of nonsensical bullshit. They say the problem is that the potency, safety, and purity of new substances is unknown, and thus they're dangerous and need to be banned. Duh. It's not like we have decades of scientific research and empirical evidence on classical drugs, which would allow us to get rid of ALL those problems. Just legalize and regulate. But nooo, we need to dig the hole deeper and then wonder why we're in such shit. Fuck me.

And what makes me even more sad is that I only recently took interest in information about illegal drugs (about the same time I joined BL, before I was just an alcoholic). In about a year I realized how retarded the current system is and what changes would most likely be beneficial. In their case, they've been at it for decades, and moreover it's their job. And they do this kind of moronic shit. Doesn't give me much hope.

 

[manboychef]

^ yesterday I was reading some local government agency's news article about RCs/NPS (novel psychoactive substances), in which they explained why they were banning whole classes of substances (going in the same direction as UK with its blanket ban I guess). It made my brain hurt just reading that bunch of nonsensical bullshit. They say the problem is that the potency, safety, and purity of new substances is unknown, and thus they're dangerous and need to be banned. Duh. It's not like we have decades of scientific research and empirical evidence on classical drugs, which would allow us to get rid of ALL those problems. Just legalize and regulate. But nooo, we need to dig the hole deeper and then wonder why we're in such shit. Fuck me.

And what makes me even more sad is that I only recently took interest in information about illegal drugs (about the same time I joined BL, before I was just an alcoholic). In about a year I realized how retarded the current system is and what changes would most likely be beneficial. In their case, they've been at it for decades, and moreover it's their job. And they do this kind of moronic shit. Doesn't give me much hope.

It is amazing. Policy makers make policy not on what helps their constituents, but what makes them get reelected, rich, or favors from other politicians or lobbys.

I have stopped using drugs, but I still feel it necessary to legalize and regulate. If only to save taxpayers money, but there are a host of humanitarian reasons as well.