Here’s a summary of some of the more interesting drug testing news stories and articles from around the UK this week. As always, if drugs are a concern for you, your family or your organisation, Zoom Testing is here to help. Contact us with all of your drug testing requirements.
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines belong to a group of drugs known as depressants. Unfortunately, benzodiazepines have an extremely high rate of abuse. In the UK, the most common benzodiazepine is Valium. Slang names for the drug include benzos, temazies, jellies, eggs, moggies and vallies. A benzodiazepines drug test will detect BZD in urine within hours of using the drug and possibly up to 2 – 14 days after use.
What Every Parent Needs to Know about Xanax
In a very short time frame in the UK, the drug’s availability has skyrocketed. A lot of it is due to experimentation by teens, but teens that are stressed are also self-medicating. The benzodiazepine family of drugs includes Xanax (alprazolam) and Valium | Zoom Testing, UK
Cannabis
Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in the UK. At Zoom Testing we offer a very wide range of drug testing kits for cannabis. This week, there were a number of cannabis related news stories that caught the eye:
Cancer patient grew cannabis ‘for medicinal use’ after prescription delayed
Terrence Edwards planned to extract cannabis oil to treat PTSD and cancer symptoms | Lancs Live, UK
Brighton man jailed for turning home into cannabis factory
A thermal imaging camera detected an unusual amount of heat coming from inside, Sussex Police said | BBC, UK
Isle of Man pharmacy to trial dispensing medicinal cannabis
People on the Isle of Man with private prescriptions for medicinal cannabis could soon be able to access the products through a local pharmacy | BBC, UK
How the pandemic created a new generation of stoners
Americans who rarely, if ever, smoked marijuana before the pandemic now say they’re turning to weed to help them cope | Guardian, UK
Hanley cannabis farm: Hundreds of plants discovered in disused building
About 250 plants were found in the property at the corner of Pall Mall and Piccadilly in Hanley on Wednesday | BBC, UK
Cocaine
Failures led to Middlesbrough toddler’s cocaine hospitalisation
A string of failures led to a toddler being taken to hospital with cocaine in his system, a review has found | BBC, UK
Women in the cocaine supply chain, Cocaine Insights 3 (PDF)
At the production stage, the most common roles for women are those of coca growers and coca pickers. In international trafficking, women usually participate as “drug mules”. And in national-level drug distribution, women are often involved in smuggling drugs into prisons and in street-level drug dealing. At each stage, roles carried out by women can vary from supporting to managerial, with low-ranking positions prevailing | UNODC, Austria
Heroin
Heroin is a pain-killing drug, which is derived from the dried milk of the opium poppy. Heroin belongs to a group of drugs known as opiates, other opiates include morphine and methadone. Heroin is also known as smack, H, junk, brown, skag and gear. Zoom Testing is a leading supplier of drug testing kits for Heroin.
How ‘The Russians’ Took Hold of Ireland’s Heroin Trade
A violent gang of heroin dealers from Lithuania fuelled Ireland and Northern Ireland’s drug trade by forcing trafficking victims to sell drugs, a joint investigation by VICE World News and the OCCRP reveals | VICE, UK
MDMA
The common name for the drug MDMA is Ecstasy which is a controlled substance. Ecstasy Drug Test Kits are available from Zoom Testing. We can also supply party drugs test kits.
Number of fentanyl-filled pills seized by US law enforcement up 4,850%
A study found that more than 2m counterfeit pills were confiscated in the last quarter of 2021 alone | Guardian, UK
Other Drug News in the UK
Also in the news this week:
Nottingham dealers moved drugs disguised as road workers in lockdown
Two men who posed as key workers to move millions of pounds worth of cocaine in lockdown have been jailed | BBC, UK
Drugs worth £3.2m ‘smuggled into UK in machinery’
The drugs, the hearing was told, were found in two devices linked to the West Midlands, with the operation uncovered by a National Crime Agency (NCA) probe | BBC, UK
Former South Yorkshire PC Nabeel Khan charged with supplying drugs
A former South Yorkshire police officer has been charged with supplying drugs to members of the public | BBC, UK
Drugsland: Going Country – video
Rather than focusing on big city drug dealing, this film tells the story of how a gang from the city establish a ‘county line’ and muscle their way into the drug economy of rural Devon | BBC, UK
Drug cartel boss ran £30m smuggling operation from bullet-proof Staffordshire mansion
Thomas Kavanagh, aka ‘Bomber’, described as ‘main man’ of UK arm of Kinahan crime group, an Irish criminal network involved in drugs supply | Telegraph, UK
West Midlands trio jailed over drug smuggling operation
Three men have been jailed for their part in a drugs smuggling operation – bringing them into the UK inside machinery | BBC, UK
Photo by Christina Victoria Craft on Unsplash
