“People want to know what they’ve been exposed to.”
“While the press and the media talk about Spice and K2 like it’s a single type of phenomenon, the truth can’t be further from that,” Wish told Healthline. “Basically what you have is some chemist in another country, oftentimes the DEA says it’s China, who waits and they see what has been put on the prohibited list by the government. And then they go ahead and they tweak the molecule a little so it’s no longer on the prohibited list and then they make it available.” New diagnostic measures One year later, researchers implemented an updated drug-test panel that increased the number of synthetic cannabinoids from 26 to 46. Even with this improved panel, only about one-quarter of the samples tested positive. The study also highlights several other findings that could potentially help improve immediate care for individuals overdosing on newer drugs at emergency departments as well as future public health initiatives. For instance, where a patient lives can foretell what drugs may be in their bloodstream. Researchers saw that in patients at Prince George’s County. Nearly half of them also tested positive for the hallucinogen PCP. Those at the Midtown Campus hospital were far more likely to have cocaine and fentanyl in their bloodstream. “The study provides public health officials, provides patients themselves, an understanding of the risks that they are exposed to,” said Dr. Zachary D.W. Dezman, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
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