Latest news with #psychoactive
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Aurora cracks down on sale of nitrous oxide, 'psychoactive' items at vape shops
Aurora City Council members say some convenience stores and vape shops are selling illegal pyschoactive items and drug paraphernalia because of a gray area in enforcement.
CNN
31-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
4,000-year-old teeth reveal the earliest use of this psychoactive substance
For the first time, archaeologists have used advanced scientific techniques on 4,000-year-old dental plaque to confirm traces of betel nut chewing in ancient Thai communities. Betel nuts are usually chewed as 'quids,' a mix of slaked lime and ground betel nuts—which contain psychoactive compounds that boost energy, alertness, euphoria, and relaxation—wrapped in a betel leaf. The stimulant, which can leave a red, brown or black stain on the teeth, is thought to be the world's fourth most commonly used psychoactive substance, after caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine, with hundreds of millions of users globally. In the past, betel nuts have been identified at archaeological sites via plant fragments or stained teeth, offering circumstantial evidence that its use goes back at least 8,000 years. But using advanced scientific techniques, an international team of researchers has identified betel nut chewing in an individual with no dental discoloration. The study, published Thursday in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, provides the earliest direct biochemical proof of betel nut consumption in Southeast Asia, predating previous evidence by at least 1,000 years, said author Piyawit Moonkham, an archaeologist at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. The discovery of 'invisible' traces of betel nut chewing in the molars demonstrates that for some prehistoric practices, 'the visible evidence that we have might not tell us the whole story,' Moonkham said. Highly sensitive and minimally invasive, the method requires only tiny samples of plaque and offers a 'fascinating' way of finding more clues about the past, said Thanik Lertcharnrit, an associate professor at Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and an expert in Southeast Asian archaeology, who was not involved in the study. 'In terms of methodology, we have very few, if any, archaeologists using that kind of scientific technique, the residue analysis, to infer the life, the tradition, the culture of the (prehistoric) people,' said Lertcharnrit. 'This paper represents a pioneer; it's state of the art in terms of archaeological research in mainland South Asia, particularly in Thailand.' Researchers began collecting ancient dental plaque, known as calculus, from Nong Ratchawat, a Neolithic burial site in central Thailand, in 2021. The team removed tiny, five-milligram scrapes of plaque from 36 dental samples, taken from six individuals. The method, called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), extracts, separates, and identifies chemical compounds by measuring how heavy the molecule is compared with its electrical charge. But before testing the ancient samples, the team needed a control sample — something they could compare the results with and demonstrate what traces of betel nut liquid might look like. 'We tried to mimic the culture of chewing,' said Moonkham, adding that in addition to the core ingredients of dried betel nut, red limestone paste, and piper betel leaves, they included catechu bark and tobacco in some of their control samples, and ground the ingredients together with human saliva. The modern control samples were tested first to validate the method before the dental samples were analyzed. They detected trace plant alkaloids – including betel nut's main psychoactive compounds, arecoline and arecaidine – in three samples from one individual known as 'Burial 11,' likely a woman aged around 25. Researchers say the benefit of the technique is that it doesn't destroy the original samples, leaving the remains intact for future study. LC-MS is currently used in a variety of fields, including pharmaceuticals, food safety, and environmental testing. But its use in archaeology so far has been limited, said Dr. Melandri Vlok, bioarchaeologist and a lecturer in anatomy and physiology at Charles Sturt University in Australia. 'A lot of the work that's been done using this (method) is looking for proteins in dental calculus for dietary reasons. So, using it to pick up these compounds that get trapped in the dental plaque, that's what's really innovative here. Nobody has done this before,' said Vlok. There's a reason it isn't common: the method requires expensive machinery—such as an Orbitrap, one of the most advanced mass spectrometers on the market, which identifies molecules by measuring the mass-to-charge ratio—that many researchers don't have access to, she added. 'It's starting to be used more routinely by some of the bigger labs, like Harvard and Max Planck — which makes this research even more amazing, because this is a paper with a Thai first-author, which is great,' she said. 'Seeing this research come from within the region is actually the thing that excites me the most.' The team on this paper included researchers from eight institutions across three continents, and the chemical residue analysis was conducted at Washington State University, where Moonkham studied for his PhD. The study's control samples, which created a 'standard' to test against, are another novelty, and future studies could refine this even further by considering how the compounds degrade over thousands of years, said Vlok. 'This is a method that I can definitely see being used quite frequently from now on in the region,' she added. While betel nuts have long been linked to hospitality and religious rituals, much of the research in recent years has focused on its classification as a carcinogen and the correlation between betel quid use and oral cancers. 'Betel nut chewing has significant implications for people's health,' said Vlok. 'It's something that affects millions of people in tropical Asia-Pacific today, but we don't really know how long people have been doing this for.' Better understanding where the tradition comes from, and how and why people are using it, could help address some of these concerns, she added. In Thailand, Moonkham says the practice has been strongly discouraged by the government since the 1940s, and while it's still popular in rural areas, it's now uncommon in cities and with younger generations. Although he recognizes the potential health hazards, Moonkham believes the practice has been overly 'demonized' and hopes research like this can show the long history of betel nuts in Thailand, and their importance in society. He has a personal attachment to the practice, too: he has childhood memories of his grandparents often chewing betel quids, usually while gossiping with friends or relaxing after a family meal. 'I asked my grandmother once, 'Why do you chew it?' And she responded, because it cleans the teeth and it helps me relax,' Moonkham recalled. 'When she chewed it, she tended to share with a friend, family, or colleagues. I think it's significant in the way it creates a social bond.' Researchers are still exploring possible reasons for the absence of tooth stains in the individual they examined, which they speculate could be due to different chewing methods, cleaning habits, or decay over the thousands of years since. Further research could help narrow down the possibilities. The team plans to analyze more individuals from the Nong Ratchawat site, where a further 150 individuals could be tested for signs of betel nut use, and Moonkham intends to dig deeper into the social, religious and medicinal roles of betel nut in ancient societies in future projects. The technique could also be applied to a wide range of plant and food residues, opening new avenues for understanding ancient practices. 'I think people tend to neglect the social and cultural aspect of plants,' said Moonkham. 'It's important to understand the whole perspective.'
Washington Post
17-06-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Businesses jump on cannabis drink craze as lawmakers try to crack down
States are rushing to ban or restrict sales of intoxicating cannabis drinks that have exploded in popularity in a market lacking many of the regulations imposed on marijuana. The drinks get their psychoactive properties from hemp, marijuana's less potent and less regulated cousin. They can be sold outside dispensaries — in some states, to minors — and are increasingly drawing a variety of consumers including sober-curious drinkers and craft beer enthusiasts, industry experts say.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
The super psychoactive cannabis taking over the world: Warning over kush containing cannabis, fentanyl, and 'ground up human BONES' - as British 'drugs mule' is detained with £1.5million haul
Experts have issued an urgent warning about a terrifying new psychoactive drug dubbed 'kush', after a former cabin crew member was accused of smuggling £1.5 million worth of the deadly drug into Sri Lanka. Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was detained at Colombo airport on Monday, after arriving on a flight from Bangkok. According to sources, authorities seized 46kg of kush as Miss Lee arrived from Thailand on a SriLankan Airlines flight. Kush is a highly potent strain of cannabis. It's made by spraying leaves with a mixture containing synthetic cannabinoids, formaldehyde, fentanyl. According to some reports, the drug even contains ground-down human bones. Since 2022, an even more dangerous form of kush has emerged, containing synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which can be 25 times more powerful than fentanyl. Smoking the toxic drug produces euphoria, confusion, and sleepiness - often causing users to fall over and hit their heads on hard surfaces or wander into traffic. What is kush? Dr Kars de Bruijne, senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute and author of a report on kush, told MailOnline that there are two forms of kush on the market. Both start with a base of plant matter, such as marshmallow leaf, which is then sprayed with one of two psychoactive chemical mixtures. Some forms of Kush are sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids, chemicals designed to mimic the natural psychoactive compounds found in the cannabis plant. The synthetic chemicals are many times more powerful than even the strongest cannabis strains and can often have severe harmful side effects. The second, more recent form of kush is sprayed with a mixture of synthetic opioids called nitazenes. Dr de Bruijne says: 'It's an opioid so it's similar to heroin, but it's very strong and it's deadly because even a little more than a milligram too much is able to kill someone. 'What we've seen in Sierra Leone is that it is overdoses which kill.' Smoking kush causes euphoria, confusion, and sleepiness. This often leads users to become injured after collapsing in the street, hitting their heads on the ground, or walking into traffic What is kush? Kush is a powerful drug produced by spraying chemicals onto leaves. One form contains synthetic cannabinoids, chemicals designed to mimic the natural psychoactive compounds found in cannabis. The other form of kush contains synthetic opioids called nitazenes. These nitazenes can be 25 times more potent than fentanyl, and even small errors can lead to fatal overdoses. Smoking kush causes euphoria, confusion, and sleepiness. This often leads users to become injured after collapsing in the street, hitting their heads on the ground, or walking into traffic The drug is most common in West Africa, particularly Sierra Leone. In a report for the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, Dr de Bruijne found that 50 per cent of kush samples tested in the lab contained nitazenes. However, as kush moves through the market, it is cut and adulterated with numerous other chemicals, including formaldehyde, the painkiller tramadol, and even rat poison. Most infamously, there are numerous unsubstantiated reports that kush contains human bones. Although Dr de Bruijne's testing wasn't designed to detect human bone, he says: 'Everyone we spoke to that is a bit more serious in that market says they don't make it using human bones.' Dr de Bruijne suggests that the rumour originated from the fact that early forms of kush used the synthetic cannabinoid ADB, a greyish-white powder with the street name 'bone'. Combined with the fact that kush is sprayed with formaldehyde, which is used by mortuaries to preserve bodies, it is easy to see how the rumour began. However, some are concerned that these rumours may have some basis in reality in a few fringe cases. 'I've also been speaking to people in the judicial system, and they have said that there is an increase in cemeteries where graves have been opened,' Dr de Bruijne explained. 'I think in Sierra Leone it happens more often that rumour turns into a reality. However, the spike in grave robbing might be better explained by addicts searching for valuables to sell and, as yet, there have been no confirmed cases of body parts in kush. What does kush do to your body? Since kush can contain so many different chemicals, the effects on your body can vary widely. In terms of its psychoactive effects, synthetic cannabinoids produce a response similar to that of cannabis, including relaxation and altered states of consciousness. Nitazenes, meanwhile, trigger an intense state of euphoria and relaxation as well as nausea, vomiting, and fever symptoms. Users also describe the high as being accompanied by a pounding pressure in the head and joints. Over long periods of use, the drug causes swelling of the legs and feet, leading to sores and wounds which can become infected. However, it is not currently clear why the drug has this effect. Why is kush so dangerous? Kush is a particularly dangerous drug because, once produced and sold, it is almost impossible to know what it contains. At any point in the supply chain, distributors might have added unknown amounts of chemicals that could cause adverse reactions. But the biggest risk is posed by the addition of nitazenes, which are both extremely strong and highly addictive. Dr de Bruijne says that dealers call kush 'fast cash' because of how rapidly users become addicted and ramp up their consumption. In Sierra Leone, an individual joint may cost as little as five leones (20 UK pence), but users can smoke up to 30 per day. That is an enormous expense in a country where the average income is just £500 per year, often driving users into a life of crime to fund their habit. Nitazenes also create a serious risk of overdose due to their potency, with experts warning that the drug has killed thousands of people in West Africa already. Last year, a group of toxicologists from Imperial College, London warned that nitazenes were leading to a 'sharp rise' in overdose deaths in the UK. Where is kush made? According to the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, the kush found in West Africa comes from two locations. Either the raw ingredients are imported from China and mixed in-country, or pre-made kush is imported from Europe. From the European side, Dr de Bruijne says that the UK and the Netherlands have emerged as leading exporters. 'I've been speaking to people in that market to serious levels; they all pointed to the UK as the area of origin,' says Dr de Bruijne. 'When you speak to people in the port in Sierra Leone, they often point to or mention the UK.' However, it's not yet clear whether the kush is being manufactured in the UK or simply moved through the country from another location. Dr de Bruijne suggests that production lines are changing rapidly since the Taliban seized Afghanistan and destroyed the country's opium poppy trade, a precursor for producing heroin. 'The global supply of heroin is going down; the estimate from law enforcement is that the big cartels are preparing for a situation with less heroin and trying to find alternatives in synthetic opioids,' he explained. Ms Lee was detained in Colombo on Monday after arriving on a flight from Bangkok. Authorities accuse her of attempting to smuggle 46kg of 'kush' into the country. Currently, the form of 'kush' containing nitazenes is an almost exclusively West African drug. Although nitazenes themselves are found increasingly throughout Europe, the specific mixed form is much less common. This makes it less certain which form of kush Charlotte May Lee is accused of smuggling. Lucia Bird, director of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime's West Africa Observatory, told MailOnline: 'Key is to note that "kush" is a street name in Sierra Leone and elsewhere. 'Consequently, it is difficult to know whether something seized that is called "kush" is necessarily the same drug from the perspective of chemical composition if no chemical testing has been carried out.' Ms Bird suggests that the drug in question was more likely to be cannabis and that the smuggling route is not tied to West Africa. However, Ms Bird says that, if chemical testing does confirm the presence of nitazenes, it would be an 'indication of additional global spread of nitazenes, including in what were previously synthetic cannabinoid supply chains.' Current reports suggest that kush typically arrives in Africa from Europe. The UK and the Netherlands appear to be the most common origin points of pre-made kush. This does not mean that kush is made in the UK, but it is, at least, a key point in the supply chain. It is not clear where the nitazenes in kush are being produced.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Oldest Evidence of Psychedelics in The Andes Predates The Inca
In the Peruvian Andes, thousands of years ago, humans were making liberal use of psychoactive drugs. We know this for a fact: For the first time, direct chemical evidence of these drugs has been found, in residual traces left on the paraphernalia used for their consumption. It's the earliest known human use of psychoactive drugs in the Andes. That use was by a culture known as the Chavín who inhabited the region during the Middle-Late Formative Period between around 1200 and 400 BCE, before the rise of the Incan Empire. What's even more interesting is that it seems to have been a pastime of only the cultural elite, since the bone tubes used to imbibe the drugs were found in private chambers that only a few people could enter at a time. "Taking psychoactives was not just about seeing visions," says anthropological archaeologist Daniel Contreras of the University of Florida. "It was part of a tightly controlled ritual, likely reserved for a select few, reinforcing the social hierarchy." Human shenanigans are not a new phenomenon. We've been tattooing ourselves, modifying our bodies, and enjoying mind- and mood-altering substances for thousands of years. Nowadays, the use of psychoactive drugs is broadly frowned upon, but in eons past, very different cultural contexts were at play. From various global archaeological sites around the world, scientists have found evidence of the use of psychoactive substances dating back thousands of years. In South America, these substances are hypothesized to have played an important role in rituals around the Middle-Late Formative Period, but evidence has been scarce. Recently, at the ancient ceremonial site of Chavín de Huántar in the Andes, archaeologists found 23 artifacts – mostly bone tubes – that have been linked to the use of psychoactive substances elsewhere in the region. Led by archaeologist John Rick of Stanford University, a team of scientists set about investigating what they were. They took samples from the 23 artifacts – 22 made of bone and one of mollusk shell – and subjected them to organic chemical residue analysis to try to identify what the substances were. On some of the artifacts were clear traces of wild tobacco (Nicotiana) and vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil), which contains a hallucinogen related to DMT. The team also identified damage to the starch grains recovered from the interiors of the tubes that was consistent with dry heat – suggesting that the nicotine roots and vilca beans were dried, roasted, and powdered as preparation for inhalation. The context in which the tools were discovered is strongly suggestive of exclusivity, the researchers say. They were found in a rectangular chamber that was built early in the first millennium BCE, around 3,000 years ago, and was completely sealed in around 500 BCE. It remained undisturbed until recent excavations. The chamber was pretty small, and would have had restricted access. It also contained artifacts, such as ceramic vessels, that could be associated with ceremonial activity. Other, similar chambers had similar artifacts, including a chamber that also contained bone tubes. Put together, this evidence suggests that the use of psychoactive substances was an important part of ritual activity at Chavín de Huántar, and that access to the spaces wherein it was conducted was also restricted. It's a discovery that helps researchers understand how Chavín de Huántar, a large, grand monument at high altitudes over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) came to be built, and the role it played in the transition from more egalitarian societies that existed before to the rigidly hierarchical systems that came after. "The supernatural world isn't necessarily friendly, but it's powerful. These rituals, often enhanced by psychoactives, were compelling, transformative experiences that reinforced belief systems and social structures," Contreras explains. "One of the ways that inequality was justified or naturalized was through ideology – through the creation of impressive ceremonial experiences that made people believe this whole project was a good idea." Times have changed, indeed. The research has been published in PNAS. Scientists Reveal What Happens in Your Brain When You Read 'Hugely Significant' Stone Circles in Scotland Suggest Early Human Arrival Surprisingly Advanced Ancient Spear Tip Was Not Made by Modern Humans
