Majority of U.S. Cocaine Supply Cut with Veterinary Deworming Drug

[Christa]

Cocaine's a hell of a drug, and even more so when laced with another drug that's commonly used to deworm opossums. Federal agents have found that 69 percent of cocaine shipments seized entering the United States contain levamisole, a veterinary drug linked to serious weakening of the immune system in humans. Here's the real funny part: no one knows why.

This comes from a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the immune system condition, known as agranulocytosis. The paper tracks 21 cases from New Mexico and Washington State linked to cocaine, including one death, but cautions that many more cases have probably gone under the radar of public health officials.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also noted that 69 percent of cocaine shipments seized as of July 2009 contained levamisole. The CDC has since launched a national surveillance effort to continue monitoring the levamisole link to cocaine.

Perhaps as a sign of the times, the toxicology report from the death of DJ AM in August revealed that the celebrity's body contained both cocaine and levamisole, along with a lethal cocktail of other drugs such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, and Benadryl.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-12/majority-us-cocaine-supply-cut-veterinary-deworming-drug

[billyoc]

1. We deworm opossums?!

:wtf:

[valerief]

6. LOL!!!! Yeah, that smacked me in the face, too!

:rofl:

[L0oniX]

7. Probably a pork spending project for Mitch McConnell.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. LOL-- I saw that and couldn't finish reading the article.

[stevedeshazer]

16. DUzy.

[L0oniX]

2. I wonder if I should quit smoking crack.

:sarcasm:

[Ikonoklast]

5. You'll get worms if you do.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Deviated septum? At least you're worm free...

:crazy:

[mix]

4. snort! nt

[Wapsie B]

8. Better ask the CIA about that.

Once upon a time they were a major importer of that drug.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Better than the UK then

Anthrax alert as heroin addict dies in Glasgow : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/17/anthrax-death-heroin-glasgow

[Hekate]

10. It seems those illegal drug suppliers really don't care if they kill a few customers along the way

:scared:

Hekate

[hobbit709]

11. How many possums are routinely dewormed?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[midnight]

12. It seems like a racket. Drugs being delivered that cause immune weakening.

[juno jones]

14. Paging Gary Webb to the courtesy phone, please...

Oppossum de-worming drug is a pretty esoteric thing to be dumping in coke supplies...AND it ruins your immune system, hmmmmm.

[NNN0LHI]

15. I sure am glad my cocaine days ended decades ago

Actually come to think of it my cocaine days never started. I never could afford the stuff.

Don