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.
How Long Do Benzodiazepines Stay in Your System?
Alprazolam, is sold under the brand name Xanax and is also a benzodiazepine. Xanax is prone to misuse, which can cause addiction.
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:
Doncaster police raids: Man arrested after £100,000 of cannabis seized
About 100 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £100,000 have been seized by police as part of a crackdown on crime in Doncaster | BBC, UK
Crime gang members jailed for £1m Peterhead cannabis operation
Four members of a foreign crime gang have been jailed for their involvement in a major cannabis operation | BBC, UK
Police called to Witham burglary find 900 cannabis plants
A cannabis farm containing about 900 plants has been discovered by police responding to a call about a suspected burglary | BBC, UK
Cocaine
Powder cocaine continues to be the second most commonly used drug of abuse in the UK, after Cannabis. Zoom Testing supply a wide range of drug testing kits for cocaine. In the news this week:
Swiss police seize 500kg of cocaine at Nespresso factory
Workers at plant in Romont alert authorities to mysterious white powder found in sacks of coffee beans | Guardian, UK
Cocaine, cartels and crime in Ecuador – audio
Our reporter, Guillermo Galdos, visited the once peaceful city for Unreported World, and spent two weeks with the local police, who are now outgunned and outnumbered | Channel 4, UK
Le Havre Cocaine Bust Marks French Port’s Prominence in Pipeline to Europe
A shootout involving French police and suspected cocaine traffickers in the northern city port of Le Havre has dramatically underscored the seaport’s growing role within the cocaine pipeline to Europe | Insight Crime, USA
Five British soldiers arrested for ‘dealing cocaine at base’ after raid by military police
Raid at Larkhill barracks reportedly resulted in mass drug testing | Independent, UK
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.
County lines: Arrests in Kirkby and Everton over Macclesfield drugs
Seven people have been arrested as police seized heroin and cannabis in a series of raids targeting “county lines drug dealing”, a force has said | BBC, UK
The drug trade now flourishing in Afghanistan: Meth
During nearly 20 years of war, US and NATO-led efforts to eradicate opium production in Afghanistan were found to be some of the least effective and most wasteful operations | Independent, UK
Men charged over Merseyside £4m cocaine and heroin haul
The vehicle was pulled over in Huyton, Merseyside, before an initial 7kg (15lb) of the drugs was uncovered | BBC, UK
Heroin-soaked yarn worth £46m seized in India
Container packed with heroin derivate-laced yarn was lying at the port for five months | Independent, 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.
Emergent Synthetic Stimulant Replacing Drug Sold as Ecstasy, Molly
N,N-Dimethylpentylone was first identified in toxicology samples in the U.S. in late-2021. To date, N,N-dimethylpentylone has been identified in 32 toxicology cases, including 26 postmortem. Cases have mostly been restricted to the east coast of the U.S., with the exception of one in Arkansas. Eight states have seen two or less cases, with Virginia recording five and Florida reporting an unprecedented 17 | Forensic Magazine, USA
Other Drug News in the UK
Also in the news this week:
NHS hospital worker struck off for inhaling laughing gas on duty
Ruramayi Runzirwayi was spotted by other staff near to anaesthetic machines, with their nitrous oxide flowmeter turned up to a high level, three times in 2018 and 2019 | BBC, UK
Whitworth car flip: Nitrous oxide use and speed ‘factors’ in crash
A driver was “very fortunate” to walk away with “cuts and grazes” after “speed and the use of psychoactive substances” led to a car being flipped on to its roof, police have said | BBC, UK
Nabeel Khan: Former Barnsley PC pleads guilty to drug charges
PC Nabeel Khan was arrested in February 2021 after a joint investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and South Yorkshire Police | BBC, UK
We found dozens of TikTok accounts skirting the app’s filters to peddle drugs by using nose and snowflake emoji and banned hashtags
TikTok accounts advertising illegal drugs can easily circumvent the app’s word blocks to reach new audiences from the Discover page, an Insider investigation has found | Business Insider, USA
Trailer for Darren McGarvey’s Addictions, Series 1 – video
Darren McGarvey explores why Scotland is the most addicted country in Europe | BBC, UK
Mike Jay on Mescaline – podcast
Until it was supplanted by LSD in the 1950’s and 60’s, mescaline was the best known and most popular psychedelic in the world. It’s the key psychoactive ingredient in peyote, which has been used for millennia among indigenous people in the Americas and often demonised and prohibited by civil and religious authorities who feared it | Mike Jay, UK
Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash
