When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Sources

Bad To Worse: Cocaine In Brazil Is Filled With Lots Of Other Junk Too

Drug dealers often "cut" their pure product with other substances to increase profit margins. A seven-year-long Brazilian police study found such relatively benign substances as caffeine to some pretty awful stuff.

But what's inside? (wstryder)
But what's inside? (wstryder)
Fernando Mello

BRASÍLIA - After seven years of steady lab research, Brazilian Federal Police have unveiled the "DNA" of several illicit drugs on the market. Confiscated drugs were put under the microscope to identify the chemical makeup, with specialists now able to tell the level of purity of cocaine, crack and other drugs — and to specify what other kinds of substances have been added to them.

Cocaine, for instance, is mixed with antithermics, caffeine, anesthetics, and even vermicides typically used to kill intestinal worms. These substances may increase the health risk of a substance already considered deleterious.

Called "Pequi" (a short for "chemical profile" in Portuguese), the drug profiling project was developed in 2005. However, it was not before 2009 that the police started to send regular samples of drugs anytime a seizure of five kilograms or more was made.

Phenacetin, a forbidden antithermic and anesthetic, was found in 35% of all cocaine samples. In 11% of it there was also levamisole, a vermicide used for animals.

Now Federal Police have also begun analyzing the makeup of marijuana, ecstasy and other drugs.

In some cases, the same sample of cocaine contains more than one add-on. These products are utilized to reduce the amount of pure drug in each dose sold to the final consumer, thus raising the dealers' profit.

According to psychiatrist Dartiu Xavier, from the São Paulo-based Orientation and Care for Addicts Program, there has been insufficient studies of the consequences of such substances when mixed with cocaine. However, he says there is clearly reason for concern.

"Cocaine offers risks of heart attack, for example, and this may be increased when mixed with substances like caffeine," says Xavier.

Read the original article in Portuguese

Photo - wstryder

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Future

AI As God? How Artificial Intelligence Could Spark Religious Devotion

We may be about to see the emergence of a new kind of religion, where flocks worship — literally — at the altar of Artificial Intelligence.

Image of artificial intelligence as an artificial being

Artificial intelligence generated picture of AI as a god

Neil McArthur

The latest generation of AI-powered chatbots, trained on large language models, have left their early users awestruck —and sometimes terrified — by their power. These are the same sublime emotions that lie at the heart of our experience of the divine.

People already seek religious meaning from very diverse sources. There are, for instance, multiple religions that worship extra-terrestrials or their teachings.

As these chatbots come to be used by billions of people, it is inevitable that some of these users will see the AIs as higher beings. We must prepare for the implications.

There are several pathways by which AI religions will emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest