Paradoxical effects of law enforcement policies: the case of the illicit drug market

This paper presents a model of a vertically organized distribution network of illicit drugs. The key assumptions are costs imposed by law enforcement on drug sellers and the vertical relationship between trackers and retailers. We study the effects of a tougher drug law enforcement policy on wholesale and retail prices of drugs according to the identity of the pursued member of the distribution network, trafficker or retailer. We show that these effects are different according to the used law enforcement tool (probability of detection or sanction) and according to the seller who undergoes the law enforcement (retailer or trafficker). Moreover, results of tougher law enforcement can be opposite to a usual objective of the drug policy, namely, the decrease of the number of consumers. This model could partially explain the failure of the “war on drugs” in the United States in the 1980s.     

反相高效液相色谱分离抗精神失常药物

作者采用反相高效液相色谱法对氯丙嗪、三氟拉嗪、异丙嗪、奋乃静、氟奋乃静、氯氮平、氟哌啶醇、安泰乐,多虑平等九种常见抗精神失常药物进行分离。并对色谱条件流动相中甲醇比例,二乙胺浓度,pH值及柱温对药物保留时间的影响进行考察,选择出一种能良好分离九种药物的色谱系统,对这类药物中毒时鉴别药物品种具有实用意义。     

禁毒宣传工作刍议

宣传教育是禁毒工作的重要组成部分,是动员广大人民群众参与禁毒斗争的有力武器,也是激励禁毒队伍斗志、震慑毒品违法犯罪的必然要求。禁毒部门必须紧紧抓住全民、青少年、吸毒高危人群这三个层面,坚持“广泛、深入、持久”的工作方针,建立覆盖全社会、突出重点人群的毒品预防教育格局;注重加强基础业务建设,密切与公安宣传部门、新闻媒体的联系,为禁毒宣传教育工作可持续发展奠定扎实的基础。     

LC-MS/MS法测定尿样中19种滥用药物

目的:建立一种可以同时测定尿样中19种滥用药物的LC-MS/MS法,了解药物滥用者的药物使用情况。方法:采用LC-MS/MS对尿样进行定量分析。结果:尿样中19种滥用药物在相应的浓度范围内线性关系良好,最低检出限为1-100ng·ml-1,其中52.63%≤10ng·ml-1;对本地区部分滥用药物依赖性患者尿样测定结果表明,吗啡、可待因、甲基苯丙胺、海洛因、美沙酮为吸毒者常用的药物。结论:所建立的LC-MS/MS法操作简便、特异性强、灵敏度高,能满足临床对滥用药物监测的需要,且能扩展至其他生物样品的监测。     

毒品犯罪案件的特殊性及证据运用的特点

毒品案件侦查不是在接到报案后启动的 ,而是从获得情报、线索开始 ;多数毒品案件侦查不是围绕犯罪现场进行 ,往往涉及广泛的区域 ;毒品案件侦查使用“同一认定”的少 ,控制下交付的多 ;毒品案件侦查主要依靠“策略”和“手段”。毒品案件的证据类型较为集中 ;侦破毒品案件必须采取公开查缉与秘密手段相结合来获取证据 ;由于毒品案件获取证据更为困难 ,侦查人员须特别增强证据意识 ;当场缴获的毒品 ,应依据事实推定原则认定犯罪     

Colombia at War: The Search for a Peace Diplomacy

This essay analyzes Colombian foreign policy over the last three decades with specific emphasis on Bogota's peace diplomacy from 1978 up to 2000 in the context of an ongoing and degrading internal war. Initially, it assumes a modified realist perspective that links international relations with domestic structures. Then, the text defines three models of Colombian peaceful diplomacy according to the purposes, the means, and the rationales employed by the administrations that covered the above-mentioned period. After empirically evaluating the governments of Presidents Turbay, Betancur, Barco, Gaviria, and Samper and the first two years of the presidency of Pastrana, the article concludes with an assessment of the country's peace diplomacy and its impact on internal violence and instability. The foreign policies of the six different mandates show that Colombia never developed an overall, consensual state strategy towards peace, that the multiple peaceful diplomacies were partially successful in terms of sustaining the political regime and that, notwithstanding the latter, the successive governments failed to achieve a genuine resolution to domestic war. Finally, the article calls for a serious, active, and simultaneous state foreign policy and citizen's diplomacy in favor of peace.     

Determination of Inorganic Ion Profiles of Illicit Drugs by Capillary Electrophoresis

A portable capillary electrophoresis instrument with dual capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) was used to determine the inorganic ionic profiles of three pharmaceutical samples and precursors of two illicit drugs (contemporary samples of methylone and para‐methoxymethamphetamine). The LODs ranged from 0.10 μmol/L to 1.25 μmol/L for the 10 selected cations, and from 0.13 μmol/L to 1.03 μmol/L for the eight selected anions. All separations were performed in less than 6 min with migration times and peak area RSD values ranging from 2 to 7%. The results demonstrate the potential of the analysis of inorganic ionic species to aid in the identification and/or differentiation of unknown tablets, and real samples found in illicit drug manufacture scenarios. From the resulting ionic fingerprint, the unknown tablets and samples can be further classified.     

Classical stimulants in Dallas County: A retrospective review of toxicological,seized drug,and demographical data from 2017 to 2022

Cocaine and methamphetamine remain highly abused drugs in the United States due to their euphoric effects. This study examines classical stimulant casework, defined as cases positive for methamphetamine and/or cocaine, received by the Toxicology Laboratory and the Drug Analysis Laboratory at the Dallas County Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences from local law enforcement agencies and/or the Office of the Medical Examiner (OME) between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2022. Methamphetamine positivity increased from 10.4% to 20.3% in the Toxicology Laboratory over the 6 years, whereas cocaine positivity remained relatively stable at approximately 17%. Similarly, in the Drug Analysis Laboratory, the methamphetamine positivity rate changed from 24.8% to 33.2%, whereas cocaine identification remained stable at approximately 20%. Blood concentrations of methamphetamine in OME cases ranged from 10.1–42,740.0 ng/mL while they were lower in DWI casework ranging from 10.2–2385.0 ng/mL. The blood concentration trends of cocaine were similar to methamphetamine, with OME casework ranging higher (10.0–24,501.0 ng/mL) than DWI casework (10.2–371.6 ng/mL). Polydrug use was evident for both methamphetamine and cocaine in postmortem cases, and the top three most frequently co-occurring drug/drug class were opioids/opiates, cannabinoids, and ethanol. The results from this study aid in the understanding of historical usage trends of cocaine and methamphetamine in Dallas County and how those trends have changed over time as newer stimulant drugs have emerged.     

Homicide of children and adolescents in Mexico (1990–2013)

The trends and correlates of child and juvenile homicide rates in three developmental age groups (0-5, 6-11, and 12-17) during 1990–2013 in Mexico are examined by using vital statistical data. Homicide rates for adults and children were calculated yearly and the place where homicides occurred and the means used to commit homicide examined. Changes and continuities in homicide rates during 2002–2007 and 2008–2013 and their association with socio-economic, status of women, public security efforts, and firearm availability variables were studied. Homicide rates increased rapidly for adults and children in 2008 as did the rates in which a firearm was used. Rates for adults and children 0–5 years were particularly correlated. In some states, the youngest children’s rates increased by 75% or more than the rates for adults. High-increase states for younger children were closer to the U.S. border, were farther from abortion services, and had growing rates of female-headed households.