INTERNATIONAL DRUG TESTING BY DANA SADOWSKY, WONDFO USA CO.
Synthetic Drug Production in China: How the Drug Testing Industry is Keeping Up
Kronic, White Revolver, Ash Inferno, Black Widow and NBOMe are just some of the names synthetic drugs go by nowadays. More common ones are K2, spice, flakka and bath salts. Te synthetic drug epidemic is geting worse not only in the United States but overseas as well. “Legal highs” seems to be the phrase atached to synthetic drugs, even though their legal status differs in certain areas.1
T Some
synthetic drugs carry more dangerous side effects than traditional drugs. Tese side effects include: hallucinations, psychosis, panic and anxiety. Te crisis surrounding synthetic drug production and distribution has been growing, especially in China. Recent reports suggest that synthetic drug
production has become out of control in China. Tis poses a serious problem for the drug testing industry. Te more synthetic drugs being produced with the compounds being altered, the harder it is for them to be detected. Te increase of these drugs in China has demanded more atention from Chinese law enforcement, who have been conducting large drug busts.2
Te Chinese
government and its citizens are responding to this crisis and taking action. What is China doing to handle this
situation? Te recent increase in drug production and use in China has the government sponsoring online information campaigns targeting teenagers. Tese campaigns are asking teens to “retweet” anti- drug messages to their friends for a chance to win electronics.3
Drug producers, dealers
and corrupt officials are being punished and held accountable. Police raids are also being
56 datia focus
he drug testing industry has the challenge of keeping up with the synthetic drug crisis. Benzo Fury,
conducted and rewards are being offered for information leading to the arrests of those wanted for drug-related charges.4
China’s goal
is to keep people on the right track. Although these crackdowns have been effective, the war on synthetic drugs is far from over. Synthetic drug manufacturers are one
step ahead of the law. Tey are able to do this by manipulating the chemicals in these drugs.5
Tere are also no formal
guidelines that say what metabolites should be measured or the cutoff levels that should be used.6
With limited guidance
and substances constantly changing, it is difficult for the drug testing industry to keep up with synthetic drugs.7 Synthetic drugs are not only in China
but all over the world. As synthetic drugs continue to be sold and used, the drug testing industry needs to know how to detect these drugs. Te main goal is to design assays to detect synthetic drugs. Besides urine testing, saliva and serum testing is also a possibility. Drug testing panels need to be expanded and updated to include synthetic drugs based on the compounds being discovered and the availability of reference standards. New methods need to be developed to look for the hundreds of different known compounds as well as new compounds.8 Tere are still many chemicals that have
not made it into the market. Te drug testing industry has already began developing new tests that detect synthetic drugs. Currently, some of the urine tests developed in the drug testing market include K2, Kratom and Designer Stimulants (“Bath Salts”). It is difficult to stay ahead of synthetic drug producers, but the drug testing industry is doing its best. Research is constantly being
done to detect new compounds and new product ideas are being explored. What does the future hold? Tere is no
concrete answer to this question. Only time will tell. Synthetic drug producers are not going to voluntarily stop manufacturing these drugs. Legislation overseas as well as in the United States need to do a beter job of monitoring the production and distribution of synthetic drugs. Te drug testing industry needs to constantly research the latest compounds being used and develop products accordingly. Staying ahead of the game may seem impossible, but the more research and studies done the more information we will know.
References 1
http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/ stories/2013/09/03/
3840143.htm
2,3
http://www.tealeafnation.com/2012/07/a-look-at-one-of- chinas-fastest-growing-consumer-goods-illegal-drugs/
4
http://www.globalpost.com/article/6593719/2015/06/25/ china-headlines-breaking-drugs-culture
5
http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/ stories/2013/09/03/
3840143.htm
6
http://www.aacc.org/publications/cln/articles/2013/ february/cannabinoids
7
http://www.aacc.org/publications/cln/articles/2013/ february/cannabinoids
8
Kuntz, David J., “Prevalence of Synthetic Cannabinoids & Cathinones in Workplace Drug Testing”
Dana Sadowsky is a VIP Customer Service Representa- tive at Wondfo USA Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of rapid diagnostics tests for fertility, drugs of abuse, strep A and
more. Although she is new to the drug testing industry, Dana has learned a lot in her short time. She hopes to further her knowledge in this industry and continue writing about it. She is very interested in the topic of synthetic drugs and plans on continuing her research in this area.
Fall 2015
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