Welsh government funds drug testing service for the public

[StoneHappyMonday]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/25951290

The service is called wedinos, it operates anonymously and results are posted online. It's been going since last October and caters for all RC's not just 'ecstasy' pills.

Along with the fact the Welsh govt provides naloxone for free at 13 needle exchanges across the country I reckon that counts as progressive compared to right wing England.

Ymlaen cymraeg.

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

http://www.wedinos.org/db/samples

 

[Kronos]

That really is forward compared to here, free subbys without a script? Just saw a report on pillreports about possible free testing for pills (at ecstasydata.org), but that involves a long wait and atm is $40, and you dont find out the full mg of the pill or owt, just whats in it, would be much better local

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Not sure where you get the 'free subbys without a script' bit from? Unless you're confusing naloxone with subutex. Subutex is a brandname for buprenorphine (previously sold as Temgesic) which is a partial opiate antagonist, whereas naloxone is a full antagonist and is used in cases of opiate overdose.

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

Yeah they give out naloxone as an HR move for OD's.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Yeah they give out naloxone as an HR move for OD's.

Yeh, should be standard procedure at all drug clinics...

 

[maxalfie]

Very slowly some countries do seem to be adopting a more sensible approach to drugs which is encouraging to see.
Hopefully one day England will have the balls to have a change of stance where drugs are concerned.

 

[knock]

Sample 000030972

Date Received: 29/11/2013
Postcode: Not Stated
Purchase Intent: Golden Virginia Tobacco
Package Label: Golden Virginia
Sample Colour: Brown
Sample Form: Plant Matter
Consumption Method: Smoked
Expected Effects: Relaxed
Unexpected Effects: Chest Pains, Vomiting
Sample Upon Analysis (Major): Nicotine
Sample Upon Analysis (Minor):


Someone's taking the piss Or maybe not...

Can't see what methods they use to do the analysis, would be interesting to have some detail on that.

 

[Si Dread]

... could be counterfeit tobacco, I s'pose! It does happen with tobacco & alcohol too. Remember them guys who exploded themselves trying to make dodgy vodka..?

Great find, I just posted an news article about this in Media...

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

I think counterfeit tobacco is a fair call Si. Tobacco is a drug too knock.

Interesting it has health warnings in three languages.

 

[Si Dread]

but not English!

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I once bought several packs of dodgy Golden Virginia baccy in exactly the same packet as shown above, but instead of being in a sealed cellophane outer, it was just wrapped in cling film When I opened it up, it was absolutely covered in fuckin white mould - honestly, it reeked of fungus. Needless to say it went straight in the bin...

 

[Si Dread]

tobacco's shit enough without that!

 

[swampdragon]

So what's to stop us English folk sending in stuff to be tested, then?

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

That's a good question Swamp but knowing how parochial the Welsh can be I can see something from an English postcode getting turned down. All the area in the reports are given in postcodes (so you know where the drug may be local to) and the postcodes are all Welsh that I've seen.

 

[Shambles]

So what's to stop us English folk sending in stuff to be tested, then?

Absolutely nothing if you happen to know somebody who lives in Wales

That aside, excellent news. Nice find, SHM. And good on whoever it was that decided to set up this service. Let's hope the rest of the country gets one too (or that, on this occasion, the Welsh allow mere Sasnaegs, Scots and Oirish to make use of their facilities).

 

[Shambles]

Sample W000147

Date Received: 29/01/2014

Postcode: LL13

Purchase Intent: Cocaine

Package Label: Cocaine

Sample Colour: White

Sample Form: Powder

Consumption Method: Snort / Sniff

Expected Effects: Not Stated

Unexpected Effects: No Effect

Sample Upon Analysis (Major): Benzocaine, Cocaine

Sample Upon Analysis (Minor): Levamisole

*titters*

Coke in the UK so bad now even when cocaine is one of the major components it still does sod all :D

(although i suspect i may be slightly misinterpreting what they were meaning - wouldn't have caused me to titter otherwise though)

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

Yeah what is this Levamisole shit? I only came across it for the first time in another BL forum recently and suddenly it seems like its a major cut in coke. I mean, I understand Benzocaine but just wondered why I'd never heard of this Levamisole? The Yanks on BL seem to think its entirely responsible for shit coke these days. Maybe I should get round to googling it.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

^isn't it some sort of anti-worming chemical for animals?

 

[Shambles]

Levamisole if horrible toxic crap that's put in at the source before it ever leaves the country of origin most of the time. And often again further down the line, no doubt. There have been a number of threads covering it over the years. Causes all kindsa health problems apparently. All but ubiquitous in cocaine worldwide these last few years

Illicit use[edit]

Levamisole has increasingly been used as a cutting agent in cocaine sold in the United States and Canada. In 2008–2009, levamisole was found in 69% of cocaine samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).[6] By April 2011, the DEA reported the adulterant was found in 82% of seizures.[22]

Levamisole adds bulk and weight to powdered cocaine (whereas other adulterants produce smaller "rocks" of cocaine) and makes the drug appear purer.[23] In a series of investigative articles for The Stranger, Brendan Kiley details other rationales for levamisole's rise as an adulterant: possible stimulant effects, a similar appearance to cocaine, and an ability to pass street purity tests.[24]

Levamisole suppresses the production of white blood cells, resulting in neutropenia and agranulocytosis. With the increasing use of levamisole as an adulterant, a number of these complications have been reported among cocaine users.[6][25][26] Levamisole has also been linked to a risk of vasculitis,[27] and two cases of vasculitic skin necrosis have been reported in users of cocaine adulterated with levamisole.[28]

Levamisole-tainted cocaine was linked to several high-profile deaths. Toxicology reports showed levamisole, along with cocaine, was present in DJ AM's body at the time of his death.[29] Andrew Koppel, son of newsman Ted Koppel, was also found with levamisole in his body after his death was ruled a drug overdose.[30] More recently it has also been suspected in the death of a Sydney teenager.[31]

In response to the dangers, The Stranger, People's Harm-Reduction Alliance and DanceSafe began producing tests to identify levamisole's presence in cocaine. The kits include a survey postcard, and one revealed its presence in a 1/4-kg block of cocaine, indicating both users and dealers were using the kits.[32]