Dopes
We write this article with the health and safety of our society in mind. Legal highs are more dangerous than drugs because the composition of the former is often unknown to us and it is extremely difficult to provide effective and quick help to people who are poisoned by them. This article is addressed primarily to young people, who often use this type of specificity for many different reasons, not knowing the consequences of taking these substances or consciously ignoring them. We will try to make you aware of what legal highs are, how they work and how they affect the body, what are the effects of taking legal highs, and we will present some of them.
Legal highs are various substances and mixtures that resemble drugs in their psychoactive effect. It is difficult to define exactly what legal highs are because there is no precise definition of them. Some consider them as a legal type of drugs, others describe them as psychoactive substances, and others (sellers) call them collectibles.
Currently, the list of banned substances included in legal highs includes 114 items, and here are some of them:
~ "Mocarz (‘Strongman’)" - a dried plant soaked in a synthetic substance from the group of cannabinoid derivatives. It consists of various types of mixtures. This synthetic modern drug is 800 times more potent than non-synthetic marijuana. After taking it, you have no control over your own body. The most common effects of taking this legal high are aggressive behavior and the inability to defend yourself. In extreme situations, cardiac arrest and severe central nervous system failure may occur.
~ "Typhoon" - the first effects after taking it appear after a few minutes, and after about 30 minutes its full power is released. It may act differently after each use, but there are two things in common: strong anesthesia and the feeling of being a "passive observer". Amnesia may appear, a great feeling of strength and self-confidence, and aggression increases. The effects last for about 5 hours and disappear within 24 hours. Very often, especially at the beginning, nausea and vomiting may appear. Consuming large amounts of this drug can lead to brain damage and eventually death.
~ "Crocodile" - a Russian invention, 10 times more powerful than heroin. It contains desomorphine (a derivative of morphine), which is contaminated with gasoline, diluents, hydrochloric acid, iodine and phosphorus. It has a very strong effect on the body. Taking this substance causes the tissues to literally rot, which leads to the falling off of the skin flaps. People who take "Crocodile" die no later than 2-3 years after taking it.
A range of different symptoms can occur after consuming legal highs. The spectrum of complications after taking them is very wide, any use of such measures is a direct threat to health or even life. As psychoactive substances, boosters deprive you of control over your own reflexes. The actions of a person under their influence also pose a threat to other people, even lead to homicide.
Occurring symptoms and complications:
- glassy eyes, dilated or narrowed pupils
-headaches
-salivation
-accelerated heart rate
-pain in the chest
-stroke
-myocardial infarction
-coma
-loss of consciousness
-kidney failure
-liver failure
In a person under the influence of legal highs, there are significant changes in behavior:
-feeling agitated or drowsy
-sensory hypersensitivity
-quickly changing moods from depressive states to euphoria
-no contact with the outside world
-anxiety
-insomnia
-states of aggression, including self-aggression, e.g. suicide attempts
-hallucination
-personality disorders
You cannot leave someone you suspect is under the influence of designer drugs. In such a case, medical assistance should be called immediately. To provide assistance prior to arrival, you should:
- determine what substances the person has taken and in what amounts - if possible and if the victim is able to talk
- not make such a person vomit, and it is better not to drink anything (do not give any medications)
- make sure the agitated person is calmed down and taken, for example, to a safe room
- try to keep the victim conscious
- if the victim of poisoning is unconscious but breathing, place them in a safe position and wait for the arrival of medical help, make sure that they do not choke
- in case of unconsciousness, first check the pulse and make sure that the victim of poisoning is breathing; if not, give artificial respiration until breathing and heart rate return.
If we suspect that we ourselves have taken something that we did not want to take, we can report to the emergency department at any time. NPS addicts can get help in the form of treatment and rehabilitation.
Detection of designer drugs
As is well known, legal highs are substances that are not the easiest to study. Testing samples of substances, once they have been secured, is not difficult. However, what she has taken can only be determined by a blood test, which is very difficult to perform since of the huge amount of substances (we even count them in thousands) we need to distinguish only a few of them. There are, however, several other effective methods but they have a limited field of action. Tests performed using instrumental methods, such as infrared spectroscopy or gas chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy, are effective and relatively simple to perform, but only if our database contains a "chemical fingerprint" of the substance you are looking for. However, for substances unknown to us (we are talking about pure samples and not the content of these substances in the blood), a screening method LC-MS / MS-TOF was developed together with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for the identification of compounds belonging to various chemical groups, without the need to use commercial databases of reference spectra (mass and fragmentation) of the analyzed molecules and the LC-CAD method with universal calibration, which enables the determination of the content of unknown or newly identified compounds without the need to use reference materials.
Sources:
http://www.gopsczerwonak.pl/files/file/Do-Poczytania/Zatrucie-dopalaczami-pierwsza-pomoc.pdf
https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polska/co-zrobic-z-czlowiekiem-ktory-zazyl-dopalacze-jak-mu-pomoc-aa-fhdc-LgCc-HZog.html
https://www.mp.pl/pacjent/pierwsza_pomoc/197735,pokonac-dopalacze
https://www.poradnikzdrowie.pl/psychologia/zdrowie-psychiczne/dopalacze-objawy-zatrucia-i-skutki-uboczne-zazywania-dopalaczy-aa-sW8m-DP25-ZasE.html
http://dokariery.pl/-/dopalacze-szkoda-zycia-67576
https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polska/dopalacze-mocarz-sklad-dzialanie-skutki-zazywania-aa-q4pK-DCte-yAru.html
https://echodnia.eu/swietokrzyskie/tak-dziala-tajfun-najgrozniejszy-z-dopalaczy-moze-nawet-zabic-video/ar/8760039
http://www.nil.gov.pl/badania/badania-narkotykow-nowej-generacji/http://wyborcza.pl/1,75400,18364590,dopalacze-okiem-chemika.html
Legal highs are various substances and mixtures that resemble drugs in their psychoactive effect. It is difficult to define exactly what legal highs are because there is no precise definition of them. Some consider them as a legal type of drugs, others describe them as psychoactive substances, and others (sellers) call them collectibles.
Currently, the list of banned substances included in legal highs includes 114 items, and here are some of them:
~ "Mocarz (‘Strongman’)" - a dried plant soaked in a synthetic substance from the group of cannabinoid derivatives. It consists of various types of mixtures. This synthetic modern drug is 800 times more potent than non-synthetic marijuana. After taking it, you have no control over your own body. The most common effects of taking this legal high are aggressive behavior and the inability to defend yourself. In extreme situations, cardiac arrest and severe central nervous system failure may occur.
~ "Typhoon" - the first effects after taking it appear after a few minutes, and after about 30 minutes its full power is released. It may act differently after each use, but there are two things in common: strong anesthesia and the feeling of being a "passive observer". Amnesia may appear, a great feeling of strength and self-confidence, and aggression increases. The effects last for about 5 hours and disappear within 24 hours. Very often, especially at the beginning, nausea and vomiting may appear. Consuming large amounts of this drug can lead to brain damage and eventually death.
~ "Crocodile" - a Russian invention, 10 times more powerful than heroin. It contains desomorphine (a derivative of morphine), which is contaminated with gasoline, diluents, hydrochloric acid, iodine and phosphorus. It has a very strong effect on the body. Taking this substance causes the tissues to literally rot, which leads to the falling off of the skin flaps. People who take "Crocodile" die no later than 2-3 years after taking it.
A range of different symptoms can occur after consuming legal highs. The spectrum of complications after taking them is very wide, any use of such measures is a direct threat to health or even life. As psychoactive substances, boosters deprive you of control over your own reflexes. The actions of a person under their influence also pose a threat to other people, even lead to homicide.
Occurring symptoms and complications:
- glassy eyes, dilated or narrowed pupils
-headaches
-salivation
-accelerated heart rate
-pain in the chest
-stroke
-myocardial infarction
-coma
-loss of consciousness
-kidney failure
-liver failure
In a person under the influence of legal highs, there are significant changes in behavior:
-feeling agitated or drowsy
-sensory hypersensitivity
-quickly changing moods from depressive states to euphoria
-no contact with the outside world
-anxiety
-insomnia
-states of aggression, including self-aggression, e.g. suicide attempts
-hallucination
-personality disorders
You cannot leave someone you suspect is under the influence of designer drugs. In such a case, medical assistance should be called immediately. To provide assistance prior to arrival, you should:
- determine what substances the person has taken and in what amounts - if possible and if the victim is able to talk
- not make such a person vomit, and it is better not to drink anything (do not give any medications)
- make sure the agitated person is calmed down and taken, for example, to a safe room
- try to keep the victim conscious
- if the victim of poisoning is unconscious but breathing, place them in a safe position and wait for the arrival of medical help, make sure that they do not choke
- in case of unconsciousness, first check the pulse and make sure that the victim of poisoning is breathing; if not, give artificial respiration until breathing and heart rate return.
If we suspect that we ourselves have taken something that we did not want to take, we can report to the emergency department at any time. NPS addicts can get help in the form of treatment and rehabilitation.
Detection of designer drugs
As is well known, legal highs are substances that are not the easiest to study. Testing samples of substances, once they have been secured, is not difficult. However, what she has taken can only be determined by a blood test, which is very difficult to perform since of the huge amount of substances (we even count them in thousands) we need to distinguish only a few of them. There are, however, several other effective methods but they have a limited field of action. Tests performed using instrumental methods, such as infrared spectroscopy or gas chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy, are effective and relatively simple to perform, but only if our database contains a "chemical fingerprint" of the substance you are looking for. However, for substances unknown to us (we are talking about pure samples and not the content of these substances in the blood), a screening method LC-MS / MS-TOF was developed together with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for the identification of compounds belonging to various chemical groups, without the need to use commercial databases of reference spectra (mass and fragmentation) of the analyzed molecules and the LC-CAD method with universal calibration, which enables the determination of the content of unknown or newly identified compounds without the need to use reference materials.
Sources:
http://www.gopsczerwonak.pl/files/file/Do-Poczytania/Zatrucie-dopalaczami-pierwsza-pomoc.pdf
https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polska/co-zrobic-z-czlowiekiem-ktory-zazyl-dopalacze-jak-mu-pomoc-aa-fhdc-LgCc-HZog.html
https://www.mp.pl/pacjent/pierwsza_pomoc/197735,pokonac-dopalacze
https://www.poradnikzdrowie.pl/psychologia/zdrowie-psychiczne/dopalacze-objawy-zatrucia-i-skutki-uboczne-zazywania-dopalaczy-aa-sW8m-DP25-ZasE.html
http://dokariery.pl/-/dopalacze-szkoda-zycia-67576
https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polska/dopalacze-mocarz-sklad-dzialanie-skutki-zazywania-aa-q4pK-DCte-yAru.html
https://echodnia.eu/swietokrzyskie/tak-dziala-tajfun-najgrozniejszy-z-dopalaczy-moze-nawet-zabic-video/ar/8760039
http://www.nil.gov.pl/badania/badania-narkotykow-nowej-generacji/http://wyborcza.pl/1,75400,18364590,dopalacze-okiem-chemika.html