Canada - 'Research chemicals' making their way into illicit drug markets, police say

[S.J.B.]

'Research chemicals' making their way into illicit drug markets, police say
Elizabeth Chiu
CBC
October 1st, 2015

The accidental drug overdose of a Nova Scotia man is shining a light on so-called "research chemicals" that are making their way into the illicit drug market.

The chemicals are marketed by companies for what they say are research purposes. However, police forces in North America are now seeing them emerge as street drugs and say they are being deceptively marketed.

The problem, experts say, is some labs are making small changes to regulated prescription medications, creating these "research chemicals" that can be marketed with far less government oversight.

In Nova Scotia, the family of Michael Thompson, who was addicted to prescription drugs, were alarmed to find an envelope of white powder arrive in the mail just two days after his death on March 18.

The family says the envelope was from reChem Labs, a Kitchener, Ont.-based company, and contained what they thought was a drug equivalent to Ativan, which is often prescribed for anxiety. RCMP have launched an investigation, part of which generally includes sending a sample to a lab for analysis.

Read the full story here.

Good job, CBC. Now the average Canadian knows where to buy "research chemicals."

(It doesn't count as sourcing when it's published in the mainstream media, right?)

 

[thujone]

shame another kid is dead due to the gray market created by gov't prohibition

 

[Negi]

shame another kid is dead due to the gray market created by gov't prohibition

He didn't died because of the grey market. They found four drugs in him in the autopsy, three he was prescribed and one that is illegal.

Michael was hooked on the sedative lorazepam, which was treating his anxiety; he'd also been taking hydromorphone for his chronic back pain after a car accident about 10 years ago. A medical examiner's report found those two drugs, in combination with the powerful narcotic fentanyl, as well as anti-depressant amitriptyline, killed Michael.

You think his parents would be talking more about the role prescription drugs played in his death rather than a package that didn't show up until after he was dead.