Heroin-Overdose Deaths in Atlanta

Huber, D

doi:10.1001/jama.1974.03230280021024

Cited by 21 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An increase in heroin quality may also reflect increased heroin availability. Thus, increased availability, accompanied by an increase in the number of users or in the frequency of use, would provide more opportunities for heroin‐related incidents to occur (32). Nevertheless, drug concentrations per se are not usually determinative for cause of death.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Relationship Between Street Heroin Purity and Drug‐Related Emergencies and/or Drug‐Related Deaths? An Analysis from Vienna, Austria*

Risser¹,

Uhl²,

Oberndorfer³

et al. 2007

Journal of Forensic Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examines the quality of street heroin seized in Vienna in 1999 and whether there was a relationship between the purity of street heroin and the number of heroin-related emergencies as well as the number of heroin-related deaths. Street heroin confiscated by the Viennese police, run-sheets of drug-related emergencies, and postmortem reports of drug-related deaths in Vienna in 1999 were analyzed. A total of 415 retail samples with a total weight of 128.02 g contained a median percentage of 6.5% diacetylmorphine (range: 0.0-47.0%). All the samples contained a diluent, mainly lactose, as well as adulterants, such as caffeine and/or paracetamol. During the study period, 75 heroin-related deaths and 387 heroin-related emergencies were registered in Vienna. Time-series analysis revealed no statistically significant relationship between the rate of heroin-related incidents and the diacetylmorphine concentration of street heroin samples confiscated in Vienna in 1999. The widely held belief that the number of heroin-related deaths could be explained simply through fluctuations in the purity of street heroin could not be substantiated, even though the results of this study do not rule out an association between the purity of heroin and heroin-related deaths/emergencies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Relationship Between Street Heroin Purity and Drug‐Related Emergencies and/or Drug‐Related Deaths? An Analysis from Vienna, Austria*

Risser¹,

Uhl²,

Oberndorfer³

et al. 2007

Journal of Forensic Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Increased availability, accompanied by an increase in the number of users or frequency of use, would provide more opportunities for heroin-related deaths to occur. 29,30 Furthermore, drug concentrations per se are not usually determinative for cause of death. Toxicological data is no substitute for an entire case study and the exercise of medical judgement in the evaluation of death.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of heroin and heroin‐related deaths from 1987 to 1995 in Vienna, Austria

Risser¹,

Uhl²,

Stichenwirth³

et al. 2000

Addiction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many researchers (Greene et al, 1974;Huber et al, 1974;Coomber, 1997;Lynskey and Hall, 1998;Darke et al, 1999;Hulse et al, 1999;Hamilton et al, 2000), it seems, believe that ''despite the wide array of heroin additives, clinical toxicity from heroin adulterants has been unusual''. Coomber (1997), for instance, maintains that ''drugs such as paracetamol and phenobarbitone are not innocuous substances, [but] they do not tend to be present in street drugs in amounts that render complications over and above those of the primary drug itself''.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the walls of the apartment charts displayed several brand names of heroin along with different formulas for cutting each brand. (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2000b) Besides those studies that seek to assist law enforcement, the other major branch of research on the precise content of ''heroin'' has been developed by medical providers/ researchers who examine the drug in the wake of urgent public health crises, especially deaths attributable to overdose (Sells et al, 1972;Greene et al, 1974;Huber, 1974;Huber et al, 1974;Richards et al, 1976;Redmond, 1979;Cunningham et al, 1984;Feuer and French, 1984;Ruttenber and Luke, 1984;Joe and Simpson, 1987;Perucci et al, 1991;Shesser et al, 1991;Davoli et al, 1993;Pu¨schel et al, 1993;Sullivan, 1994;Bammer and Sengoz, 1995;Zador et al, 1996;Dillman, 1997;Poulin et al, 1998;Darke et al, 1999;Perrone et al, 1999;Sporer, 1999;Hamilton et al, 2000;Rissler et al, 2000). For example, in 1995, following 325 overdoses in East Coast cities attributed first to ''heroin'' and then to ''scopolamine'', doctors who specialize in emergency medicine and work in poison centers wrote about the demographics and clinical characteristics of the epidemic (Perrone et al, 1999;Hamilton et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heroin Cut with Morphine?: An Ethnographic-Forensic Chemistry Case Study

Wendel

Rothchild

Curtis

et al. 2003

Addiction Research & Theory

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article uses a novel combination of ethnographic fieldwork and forensic chemical analysis to examine a single case study in order to illuminate the issue of adulterating illegal drugs with particular attention directed to the public health implications of these practices. Our analysis of an unknown powder acquired on the streets of New York City produced information that may be useful to health care practitioners and policy makers and demonstrates how the ethnographer's presence in the real world environment within which drug distribution and consumption takes place can be combined with rigorous verification in the laboratory. Our results indicate that the unknown powder, termed ''morphine'' on the street was, in fact, procaine hydrochloride at a purity greater than 99%. We conclude that the understudied problem of drug ''cutting'' contributes to morbidity and mortality among drug users in ways that are poorly understood and that continuous interdisciplinary monitoring of the content of illegal drugs in local settings is urgently needed.

show abstract

Heroin-Overdose Deaths in Atlanta

Cited by 21 publications

References 12 publications

Is There a Relationship Between Street Heroin Purity and Drug‐Related Emergencies and/or Drug‐Related Deaths? An Analysis from Vienna, Austria*

Is There a Relationship Between Street Heroin Purity and Drug‐Related Emergencies and/or Drug‐Related Deaths? An Analysis from Vienna, Austria*

Quality of heroin and heroin‐related deaths from 1987 to 1995 in Vienna, Austria

Heroin Cut with Morphine?: An Ethnographic-Forensic Chemistry Case Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About