Lacing (drugs)

Lacing is the act of adding one or more substances to another. Some street drugs are commonly laced with other chemicals for various reasons, but it is most commonly done so as to bulk up the original product or to sell other, cheaper drugs in the place of something more expensive. Individuals sometimes lace their own drugs with another substance to combine or alter the physiological or psychoactive effects.

Reasons for lacing

Illegal drug trade
Main article: Illegal drug trade

Drugs may be sold to end users who are unaware they have been laced or are unaware what was used to lace them. At various points in the supply chain, in order to maximize profitability, many drugs are adulterated with cutting agents. Substances with similar physical and/or chemical properties can be used so the end product most closely resembles what it is purported to be. Inert substances with similar physical properties can be used to increase weight without changing the look and feel. Less expensive or easier to obtain compounds with similar chemical properties may be used to lace heavily adulterated drugs while still maintaining some psychoactive potency.

Mickey Finn
Main article: Mickey Finn (drugs)

In slang, a Mickey Finn—or simply a Mickey—is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them.

Poly drug use
Main article: Poly drug use

Drugs may also be laced with the end user being made aware of the lacing. In this case, rather than as an adulteration, the lacing is intended to make the product more desirable. Sometimes less potent, often less expensive drugs, are laced with a small amount of a more potent, often more expensive drug. This may be used to facilitate the ingestion of drugs or to allow the simultaneous ingestion of multiple drugs. Cigarettes laced with PCP allow users to take in the liquid PCP through smoking and some multi drug users report intentionally buying marijuana laced with methamphetamine.[1]

Commonly laced substances

CBD

Street drugs
Drug 1Drug 2Drug 3Poly drug name[3]Intoxication nameComment
AlcoholBarbituratesGeronimo. Wild geronimo
AlcoholChloral hydrateMickey FinnIn slang, a Mickey Finn—or simply a Mickey—is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them.
CannabisEmbalming fluidIlly. Love boat[4]The use of fry (embalming fluid and PCP-laced cigarettes or marijuana sticks) among crack cocaine smokers.[5] Embalming fluid has been found as a by-products of PCP manufacture.[6]
CannabisFormaldehydePCPWetMarijuana cigarettes dipped into or laced with other substances, typically formaldehyde, phencyclidine, or both, are known as "wet" and have caused respiratory failure.[7]
CannabisFormaldehydeClicker, dank. Love boat[8]Marijuana cigarettes dipped into or laced with other substances, typically formaldehyde, phencyclidine, or both, are known as "wet" and have caused respiratory failure.[9]
CannabisPCPEmbalming fluidFry, fry sticks. Love boat[10]Embalming fluid has been found as a by-products of PCP manufacture.[6]
Crack-cocaineBenzocaineCoco snowCrack cut with benzocaine. Benzocaine is a dental anaesthetic that mimics coke's numbing effect.
Crack-cocaineProcaineDouble rockCrack cut with procaine. Procaine is a dental anaesthetic that mimics coke's numbing effect.
LSDStrychnineBack breakers (sometimes backbreaker)Strychnine has been found in murder or attempted murder investigations where someone was being specifically targeted for poisoning.
HeroinMotion sickness medicationPoloThis combination caused dozens of overdoses in Newark, New Jersey, the police and doctors said they suspected that one dealer in the area had been trying to improve his profit margin by diluting his heroin supply with scopolamine, the main ingredient in skin patches used to prevent motion sickness.[11]
HeroinScopolamine or strychnineSpikeThis combination caused dozens of overdoses in Newark, New Jersey, the police and doctors said they suspected that one dealer in the area had been trying to improve his profit margin by diluting his heroin supply with scopolamine, the main ingredient in skin patches used to prevent motion sickness. [12] Strychnine has been found in murder or attempted murder investigations where someone was being specifically targeted for poisoning.
HeroinSynthetic opioidsGray deathSynthetic opioids sold to maximize profitability
PCPGasolineOctanePCP laced with gasoline. Cigarettes or joints are soaked in the solution that quickly evaporates.
Heroin

Heroin is commonly cut with quinine, caffeine, dimethocaine, procaine, lactose, inositol, dextrose, mannitol, and starch.

Other opioids are sometimes sold as heroin or cut with heroin. Fentanyl sold as or laced into heroin has made the news in the past due to the numerous fatalities it causes when it appears on the market. Recently, Fentanyl and close analogues have been produced in pure powder form for very cheap. Dealers may cut with or sell heroin with Fentanyl due to the street cost of Fentanyl versus the cost of heroin. The potency of such mixtures (especially if made carelessly) can be far above that of pure heroin, and users frequently overdose due to this. Gray death is a street drug in the United States. Samples have been found to contain the designer drug U-47700, heroin and opioids including fentanyl and carfentanil.[13]

Stimulants

Stimulants are drugs that speed or give a mental boost to the consumer

Cocaine

The most common cocaine adulterants found in 1998 in samples in Rome, Italy were lidocaine and caffeine.[14] Cocaine is sometimes mixed with methylamphetamine, methylphenidate, and ephedrine, but is usually mixed with non psychoactive chemicals such as mannitol, inositol, pectin, glucose, lactose, saccharin, white rice flour, and maltodextrin. Other of agranulocytosis, including 2 deaths, according to an alert from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The emergence of fentanyl-laced cocaine has led to an increase in cocaine overdose fatalities in New York City. [15]

Methamphetamine

MSM is sometimes used as a cutting agent for illicitly manufactured methamphetamine.

Cannabis

Though marijuana is less likely to be adulterated than hard drugs are, it still occurs, and has been reported in several countries.

Psychoactive substances:

  • Erectile dysfunction drugs: In the Netherlands two chemical analogs of Sildenafil (Viagra) were found in adulterated marijuana.[16]
  • Methamphetamine: psychiatrist Dr Bill MacEwan believes that drug dealers in British Columbia are intentionally lacing cannabis with methamphetamine to make it more addictive. He had some psychiatric patients that claimed they only smoked pot but their drug tests were positive for methamphetamine use.[1]
  • PCP: Rarely, cannabis (especially that of low quality) is laced with PCP, particularly in the United States.[17] However, it is not always done surreptitiously. Dealers who do so often (but not always) advertise their wares as being "enhanced" with other substances, and charge more money than they would otherwise, even if they do not say exactly what the lacing agents are. Such concoctions are often called "fry", "wet", "illy", "sherm", "water-water", "dust(ed)", "super weed", "grecodine" or other names.[18]

Weight cutting agents:

  • Microscopic glass beads: Cannabis buds was found to be contaminated with glass beads in 2007, known as gris weed.[19][20]
  • Lead: In 2008, 30 German teenagers were hospitalized after the marijuana which they smoked was found to have been contaminated with lead (presumably metallic lead particles), which was added in order to increase its weight.[21]
  • Shoe polish: Hash has been cut with shoe polish.[22]
  • Tocopheryl acetate: See 2019–20 vaping lung illness outbreak.
Ecstasy

Black market ecstasy pills are frequently found to contain other drugs in place of or in addition to methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA). Since the slang term "ecstasy" usually refers only to MDMA, any pill which contains other compounds may be considered adulterated. 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), methylenedioxyethamphetamine (MDEA), amphetamine, methylamphetamine, benzylpiperazine (BZP), trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP), caffeine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and dextromethorphan (DXM) are all commonly found in pills being sold as ecstasy. Less common drugs in ecstasy include diphenhydramine, acetaminophen, 5-MeO-DiPT, 2C-B, procaine, and phencyclidine (PCP). Ecstasy pills sometimes contain dimethylamylamine to increase its stimulant effects. Ecstasy pills might also contain a low dose of 2C-I to potentiate its euphoric effects. Pharmaceutical pills are sometimes sold as ecstasy, as well as pills that contain no psychoactive chemicals at all. Ecstasy sometimes contains 10 mg to 20 mg of baclofen to reduce overheating caused by ecstasy. para-Methoxyamphetamine (PMA or "Dr. Death", a drug that causes so much overheating that it can kill within 40 minutes) is sometimes sold as ecstasy. There is one published case[23] of an ecstasy tablet being adulterated with 8 mg of strychnine, a toxic alkaloid which was used in very low doses (less than 1 mg) as a stimulant and performance-enhancing drug in the past. Recently, several groups advocating for drug safety through education have made reagent testing products available to confirm what substances there are.[24]

LSD

LSD is virtually never laced with other chemicals, but other lysergamides such as ALD-52 are sometimes sold as LSD-25. DOB, DOI, and other closely related drugs are sometimes sold as LSD. Several other highly potent hallucinogens such as Bromo-DragonFLY or 25I-NBOMe can be found in the form of blotters. LSD is also tasteless in normal dosages, so detection is only possible after ingestion or reagent testing. For these reasons, it is not uncommon to find blotters sold as LSD completely devoid of psychoactive substances.

Prescription Medication

As the sources of prescription medication on the street are not verifiable through legitimate channels, misrepresentation of prescription medications is a common practice.

Testing

Reagent testing

Reagent testing kits are available online and also sold at some head shops. These kits claim to be able to identify common adulterants in ecstasy.

Professional lab tests

There are services available for testing the contents of an ecstasy pill that can tell the user what chemicals are contained in the pill and at what ratio. The results are then posted on their website along with every other pill that they have tested. The tests are considered to be highly accurate. Their services were at one time free, but when they ran out of funding they had to charge a fee for every pill tested.[25]

See also

References
  1. Meth-laced pot a huge problem, experts say Canada.com January 27, 2006.
  2. https://apnews.com/f317c5c9682e4c5cb125d56f9fe6b737
  3. Copping, Jasper (8 November 2009). "Drug slang: what police must learn A to B".
  4. https://io9.gizmodo.com/5887407/the-street-drug--love-boat-comes-in-many-chemical-forms%5B%5D
  5. Peters, Ronald J; Williams, Mark; Ross, Michael W; Atkinson, John; McCurdy, Sherly A (2008). "The Use of Fry (Embalming Fluid and PCP-Laced Cigarettes or Marijuana Sticks) among Crack Cocaine Smokers". Journal of Drug Education. 38 (3): 285–95. doi:10.2190/DE.38.3.f. PMC 2873769. PMID 19157045.
  6. Holland, Julie A.; Nelson, Lewis; Ravikumar, P. R.; Elwood, William N. (June 1998). "Embalming Fluid-Soaked Marijuana: New High or New Guise for PCP?". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 30 (2): 215–219. doi:10.1080/02791072.1998.10399693. PMID 9692385.
  7. Gilbert, C. R; Baram, M; Cavarocchi, N. C (2013). "'Smoking wet': Respiratory failure related to smoking tainted marijuana cigarettes". Texas Heart Institute Journal. 40 (1): 64–7. PMC 3568288. PMID 23466531.
  8. https://io9.gizmodo.com/5887407/the-street-drug--love-boat-comes-in-many-chemical-forms%5B%5D
  9. Gilbert, C. R; Baram, M; Cavarocchi, N. C (2013). "'Smoking wet': Respiratory failure related to smoking tainted marijuana cigarettes". Texas Heart Institute Journal. 40 (1): 64–7. PMC 3568288. PMID 23466531.
  10. https://io9.gizmodo.com/5887407/the-street-drug--love-boat-comes-in-many-chemical-forms%5B%5D
  11. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/30/nyregion/potent-heroin-mixture-causes-dozens-of-overdoses.html
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/30/nyregion/potent-heroin-mixture-causes-dozens-of-overdoses.html
  13. Lehman, Pamela. "Bethlehem police find first case of deadly drug known as 'gray death'".
  14. Fucci, Nadia; De Giovanni, Nadia (1998). "Adulterants encountered in the illicit cocaine market". Forensic Science International. 95 (3): 247–52. doi:10.1016/S0379-0738(98)00102-9. PMID 9800360.
  15. "Health Department Warns New Yorkers About Cocaine Laced With Fentanyl; Occasional Users At High Risk Of Overdose". NYC Health. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  16. Venhuis, Bastiaan J; De Kaste, Dries (2008). "Sildenafil analogs used for adulterating marihuana". Forensic Science International. 182 (1–3): e23–4. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.09.002. PMID 18945564.
  17. Dowty, Douglass (August 3, 2009). "Illegal drug users dip into embalming fluid". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, NY. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  18. Loviglio, Joann (July 27, 2001). "Kids Use Embalming Fluid as Drug". ABC News. Philadelphia.
  19. "Contamination - the grit weed story". www.ukcia.org.
  20. Randerson, James; correspondent, science (12 January 2007). "Warning issued over cannabis adulterated with glass beads". The Guardian.
  21. Childs, Dan (Apr 10, 2008). "Lead-Tainted Marijuana Poisons Users". ABC News. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  22. J, Sirius (11 December 2014). "Britain's 'Skunk' Phenomenon". High Times.
  23. "Strychnine". London Toxicology Group via Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 17 December 2002. Retrieved 25 September 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. Staff Writer (December 29, 2003). "MDMA Testing Kit". Erowid Center.
  25. "Ecstasy Data Funding Info". ecstasydata. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
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