Still doubling down on the bath salts meme, I see.. The Sun Sentinel. Excerpts:
Rudy Eugene was not on "bath salts" or synthetic marijuana when he chewed the face off a homeless man in May – if you believe the toxicology reports, that is.
Scientists and skeptical observers don't.
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti is just one of the doubting Thomases who think the so-called "Causeway Cannibal" was on something not caught by either of the two labs that ran the toxicology tests.
"We are not testing for everything that may be out there," said Dr. Barry Logan, one of the nation's leading toxicologists.
That's because they can't.
Clandestine labs are using more than 100 chemical compounds to make synthetic marijuana, but even the most sophisticated lab can only test for 17, said Logan, director of Forensic and Toxicological Services at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, the same lab hired by Miami-Dade County to help test Eugene for bath salts and synthetic marijuana. (There are over 100 ACTIVE compounds in synthetic drugs? Dubious..)
Bath salts, also known as synthetic amphetamines, are also hard to track for the same reason.
There are hundreds of bath salt compounds out there, but toxicologists can only test for 40, (Again..) Logan said.
"This is always a moving target," Logan said. "As soon as a test exists for something, there are new compounds waiting in the wings. We are always a step behind." (How would these "clandestine labs" know what can be detected and what can't without some kind of Forensics Department insider information? How could "clandestine labs" be that sophisticated? I'm having a hard time believing that basic bath salts could be that chemically diverse and still be considered bath salts. A really hard time.. Wouldn't it be easier to round up products available from a radius around Eugene's daily activities and test them all against his blood?)
Even Logan was surprised when Eugene's drug scan found only traces of marijuana.
"His behavior was consistent with someone who was delusional and hallucinating, which would be consistent with bath salts," Logan said. (Or Angel dust. Or Jimson Weed..)
The report released last week by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner contained this disclaimer: "Within the limits of current technology by both laboratories, marijuana is the only drug identified in the body of Mr. Rudy Eugene."
Experts say there is no question Eugene's behavior was drug-induced – and not by marijuana. But it's hard to prove because even the most sophisticated labs cannot test for every compound.
"We are not incompetent," said Dr. Bruce Goldberger, professor and director of toxicology at the University of Florida. "We have the tools, we have the sophistication and know-how. But the field is evolving so rapidly it is hard for us to keep track. It's almost as if it is a race we can never win."
Goldberger thinks Eugene was on a drug far stronger than marijuana the day of the attack.
"To say marijuana could have induced this behavior is simply outrageous," Goldberger said. "No matter how sick mentally or physically a person is, they don't go around eating people's faces, or barking at police, or eating a dog, like what happened recently in Texas."
A Waco man who tried to eat a dog on June 14 told police he was high on synthetic marijuana at the time.
Users say they are drawn to fake weed because it gets them high and doesn't show up in most drug tests.
Love this comment..
Talk to the Haitian Voodoo Priest to get the chemical substance.
The media simply refuses to see this as religious because of their agnostic action line, which makes them useless in a story like this. Al Lamberti (R) is showing his Liberal Catholic roots by refusing to acknowledge religion as a factor. He can't believe it's not Bath Salts? Who is he? He sees, more than most of us, the dirty underbelly of Broward crime stats for sure, but does that make him a an expert forensic pathologist? No! Granted their are example of extreme behavior by people who claimed to use fake "Mary Jane," two examples in this story are given, but notice also that none of them "killed" their victims, and none of them claimed it was bath salts!
This is.. Close.. But I still think this is something else. Summer's still young, so I'm sure we'll have more incidents to work with. I've also never seen reports of these "clandestine labs" being busted, either.. Have you?
Rudy Eugene was not on "bath salts" or synthetic marijuana when he chewed the face off a homeless man in May – if you believe the toxicology reports, that is.
Scientists and skeptical observers don't.
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti is just one of the doubting Thomases who think the so-called "Causeway Cannibal" was on something not caught by either of the two labs that ran the toxicology tests.
"We are not testing for everything that may be out there," said Dr. Barry Logan, one of the nation's leading toxicologists.
That's because they can't.
Clandestine labs are using more than 100 chemical compounds to make synthetic marijuana, but even the most sophisticated lab can only test for 17, said Logan, director of Forensic and Toxicological Services at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, the same lab hired by Miami-Dade County to help test Eugene for bath salts and synthetic marijuana. (There are over 100 ACTIVE compounds in synthetic drugs? Dubious..)
Bath salts, also known as synthetic amphetamines, are also hard to track for the same reason.
There are hundreds of bath salt compounds out there, but toxicologists can only test for 40, (Again..) Logan said.
"This is always a moving target," Logan said. "As soon as a test exists for something, there are new compounds waiting in the wings. We are always a step behind." (How would these "clandestine labs" know what can be detected and what can't without some kind of Forensics Department insider information? How could "clandestine labs" be that sophisticated? I'm having a hard time believing that basic bath salts could be that chemically diverse and still be considered bath salts. A really hard time.. Wouldn't it be easier to round up products available from a radius around Eugene's daily activities and test them all against his blood?)
Even Logan was surprised when Eugene's drug scan found only traces of marijuana.
"His behavior was consistent with someone who was delusional and hallucinating, which would be consistent with bath salts," Logan said. (Or Angel dust. Or Jimson Weed..)
The report released last week by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner contained this disclaimer: "Within the limits of current technology by both laboratories, marijuana is the only drug identified in the body of Mr. Rudy Eugene."
Experts say there is no question Eugene's behavior was drug-induced – and not by marijuana. But it's hard to prove because even the most sophisticated labs cannot test for every compound.
"We are not incompetent," said Dr. Bruce Goldberger, professor and director of toxicology at the University of Florida. "We have the tools, we have the sophistication and know-how. But the field is evolving so rapidly it is hard for us to keep track. It's almost as if it is a race we can never win."
Goldberger thinks Eugene was on a drug far stronger than marijuana the day of the attack.
"To say marijuana could have induced this behavior is simply outrageous," Goldberger said. "No matter how sick mentally or physically a person is, they don't go around eating people's faces, or barking at police, or eating a dog, like what happened recently in Texas."
A Waco man who tried to eat a dog on June 14 told police he was high on synthetic marijuana at the time.
Users say they are drawn to fake weed because it gets them high and doesn't show up in most drug tests.
Love this comment..
Talk to the Haitian Voodoo Priest to get the chemical substance.
The media simply refuses to see this as religious because of their agnostic action line, which makes them useless in a story like this. Al Lamberti (R) is showing his Liberal Catholic roots by refusing to acknowledge religion as a factor. He can't believe it's not Bath Salts? Who is he? He sees, more than most of us, the dirty underbelly of Broward crime stats for sure, but does that make him a an expert forensic pathologist? No! Granted their are example of extreme behavior by people who claimed to use fake "Mary Jane," two examples in this story are given, but notice also that none of them "killed" their victims, and none of them claimed it was bath salts!
This is.. Close.. But I still think this is something else. Summer's still young, so I'm sure we'll have more incidents to work with. I've also never seen reports of these "clandestine labs" being busted, either.. Have you?
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