What to know about delta-8 and other common vape shop drugs

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What to know about delta-8 and other common vape shop drugs

2024-09-04 02:14 Last Updated At：02:21

They're sold in gas stations, vape shops, online and in other stores around the country in seemingly countless enticing forms: gummies, chocolate bars, chips. Their packaging lists things like delta-8 THC, micro- and macrodoses of “psychedelics” and “nootropics."

These substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they're produced. And in the absence of federal rules, many states have banned or have tried to ban delta-8 THC.

Legal but under-regulated drugs are easy to come by, but experts say there are still a lot of uncertainties. Here's what to know.

Drug laws are often specific to the substance, so federal and state regulators are left chasing the newest chemical concoction.

Delta-8 THC exploded in popularity under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, more commonly known as the Farm Bill. Under that law, hemp products and the cannabinoids that could be made from them were classified as distinct from marijuana.

Delta-8 has just a slight chemical tweak from the psychoactive delta-9 compound found in marijuana, but it can still get you high.

It remains in a legally ambiguous area with restrictions that vary state by state, said Robert Mikos, a marijuana policy and law expert at Vanderbilt University. Substances like cannabinoids are also easy to change into new but similar versions of drugs that may come under scrutiny.

“There’s been all sorts of things that (have) cycled through popularity over time,” he said. “And government enforcement is always one step behind what the chemists can come up with.”

Not necessarily.

Because of a lack of oversight into manufacturing processes and a lack of uniform labeling requirements, it's hard to know what exactly is in a particular product.

For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began investigating illnesses earlier this year caused by recalled Diamond Shruumz products, which in addition to containing muscimol, a legal psychoactive compound from the Amanita muscaria mushroom, were found to contain other unlisted ingredients, including psilocin, a controlled substance.

It’s hard to even know basic information about what the potency of the drug in many of these products is, said Dr. Ginger Nicol, who leads the psychedelics research program at Washington University in St. Louis.

And the concern isn't just limited to the drugs themselves: It extends to other things that could be introduced in the manufacturing process, said Dr. Igor Grant, director of the University of California, San Diego's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.

He pointed to how delta-8 is made from CBD.

The chemical process to make delta-8 uses strong acids and more, Grant said, and if some of those other trace chemicals are left behind, they can pose added health risks to those already posed by delta-8 itself.

“If this was done by the Food and Drug Administration's standards where they have strong regulations about purity and all that, it'd probably be fine," he said. "But that's not how it's made.”

Nicol suggested that people to talk to their doctor before taking anything, especially if it’s an unregulated drug.

That's in part because of the lack of rigorous research that could better understand the drugs' effects, side effects and safety — and in part because there is so little oversight.

“You can get a bad batch,” she said. “Nobody is necessarily testing it for purity or contamination.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The Big Sho: Ohtani hits tying 3-run homer in playoff debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers in NLDS win

2024-10-06 13:17 Last Updated At：13:20

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani rewrote the record book during his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, he's getting a chance to make more history in his highly anticipated playoff debut.

Ohtani hit a tying, three-run homer with two outs in the second inning to help Los Angeles win its Division Series opener Saturday night. The Dodgers went on to a 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres, a team they battled down to the wire before earning their 11th NL West title in 12 years.

“When he does get those opportunities, you feel like he's going to cash them in,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The Japanese superstar sent a 2-1 pitch from Dylan Cease into right field for a 372-foot shot that had the sellout crowd of 53,028 — including actors Brad Pitt and Rob Lowe — on its feet.

“I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

He finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs, two runs scored and two strikeouts as 88-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax looked on from behind home plate.

“It was pretty exciting,” Ohtani said.

He flied out to left in his first at-bat.

“The focus was really on just having my swing, the quality at-bat that I look for despite being in an excited, high-intensity environment,” Ohtani said. “Although I was out that at-bat, I felt pretty good and wanted to carry that on throughout the other at-bats.”

The Padres had taken a 3-0 lead in the first against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani's countryman who is also making his postseason debut in the National League Division Series.

Ohtani, who batted .310 during the regular season, drove in Will Smith, who walked, and Gavin Lux, who singled, to make it 3-3.

San Diego went ahead 5-3 before the Dodgers rallied with three runs in the fourth. Ohtani had a broken-bat single and later scored, along with Mookie Betts, on Teoscar Hernández's single that gave the Dodgers their first lead, 6-5.

“It's really difficult for a playoff team to be able to get into and feel comfortable playing in the first game of the postseason, especially with the long layoff, but I think everyone really contributed,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani is getting his first chance on the October stage after spending the past six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record during his tenure.

He signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers as a free agent in December. The two-way phenom didn’t pitch this season while rehabbing from a second major elbow surgery. That allowed him to focus on his offense, and he became the first major league player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB