Smoke Shops Research Articles

Detection of JWH-018 and JWH-073 by UPLC-MS-MS in Postmortem Whole Blood Casework

Synthetic cannabinoids have been detected in various herbal blends sold legally in convenience stores, smoke shops, and on the Internet. Many of these compounds have extreme forensic significance. We developed and validated a rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of trace concentrations of two of these compounds, JWH-018 and JWH-073, in human blood. Samples underwent liquid-liquid extraction at pH 10.2 into ethyl ether. Tandem mass spectrometry was performed in positive electrospray ionization mode with multiple reaction monitoring using two transitions and one calculated ion transition ratio for each analyte. Deuterated analogs were used as internal standards. Total run time was 2.6 min. The linear dynamic range was 0.05-50 ng/mL with a limit of detection of 0.01 ng/mL for each analyte. Intra-run imprecision (at two different concentration levels, 2 and 8 ng/mL) was 3.9-10.3% for JWH-018 and 3.5-6.2% for JWH-073. Inter-run imprecision was 6.5-7.2% for JWH-018 and 4.8-5.5% for JWH-073. Intra-run accuracy was 95.9-112.7% for JWH-018 and 92.6-104.7% for JWH-073. Inter-run accuracy was 99.1-107.0% for JWH-018 and 97.7-102.0% for JWH-073. Carryover, exogenous drug interferences, ion suppression and matrix selectivity were also assessed. The method has been applied to postmortem forensic casework received by the laboratory and has proven to be robust and reliable. Concentrations of authentic samples have ranged from 0.1-199 ng/mL for JWH-018 and 0.1-68.3 ng/mL for JWH-073.

Bronik Returns to Vienna

In the old days, before democracy, a tobacco shop looked like a farmer's kitchen. The countertop would be crowded with unfilled jars and boxes and the glass case stained yellow from age and tobacco smoke. Peer through the glass top and you would see two shelves with small, separated piles of one or two or three packets of cigars, cigarettes, or pipe tobacco. Cuban cigars were cheap here but hard to find. Everything was hard to find. On open shelves cut into the stone wall behind the counter, there might be a few more items, only for smoking. Related goods that filled and brightened smoke shops in more frivolous citiessay London or New Yorkwere sold here in dedicated magazinas: a candy store, a paper goods store. If you wanted a tobacco pouch, you would have to go to a store for leather goods. Against the far wall in this tobacco shop, under a calendar, some pictures of working people and a few announcements printed in the alphabet of that country, would be a small wooden table with a not very clean oilcloth cover and two ungainly wooden chairs. The storekeeper, a smudge of a man with hair like a scrubbing brush, might be sitting on one of the chairs, reading a newspaper, the newspaper, drinking dense sugared coffee from a chipped cup. A friend might join him with a deck of cards. On unspecified days new supplies would be delivered by a worker with a handcart, breathing hard, while customers hurried after him and lined up at the door. On such days the storekeeper did not sit. Merchandise was stacked on the table and chairs. No

Tobacco Use among American Indians in Oklahoma: An Epidemiologic View

With the exception of national surveys that sample the entire U.S. population, little information exists on tobacco habits among American Indians. This study is a comparison of tobacco use findings in the 1990s among American Indians in Oklahoma, a state with a large and diverse American Indian population (39 tribes). Data on current tobacco use are presented from two statewide surveys, the Oklahoma Youth Tobacco Survey and the Native American Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, as well as two large epidemiologic studies of chronic disease among American Indians-the Cherokee Diabetes Study and the Strong Heart Study. Three of these four sources of data involve research/surveys exclusively about American Indians. Nontraditional use of tobacco by American Indians occurs frequently, according to each instrument. Initiation to this habit begins in middle school and increases dramatically during high school. After age 50, reporting by individuals that they currently smoke declines steadily. Despite sampling different individuals for the surveys and different tribes for the epidemiologic research, results were comparable in age groups that overlapped. These findings support national data indicating that American Indians have higher prevalence rates of smoking than other racial/ethnic groups. American Indians report smoking on average about a half a pack of cigarettes per day. Individuals reporting using tobacco solely for ceremonial purposes were far fewer than habitual users. Buying tobacco products in American Indian smoke shops helps tribal economies; this fact needs to be considered for prevention programs to succeed.

Applying the regulatory powers of public health.

The advent of sales over the Internet has led to interesting developments in sales tax policy as states attempt to monitor, control, and collect revenue from illusive Internet tobacco vendors. Tobacco sales have been successfully monitored and regulated, to some extent, in convenience stores, grocery stores, and smoke shops, and in most cases sales taxes are collected. The Internet, however, is extremely difficult to regulate. States could use their regulatory powers to ban the sale of products such as tobacco and alcohol over the Internet, but enforcement would be nearly impossible.The issue of enforcement of Internet sales is extremely difficult. Keeping the products out of the wrong hands, under aged children for example, is difficult. Also, it is difficult in terms of tax policy.