Emme Kerj
Current event article review
The article I read is about a newly discovered technique that makes it faster, easier, and cheaper for laboratories to detect “club drugs” in urine and plasma samples. The new technique was created as a result of a collaboration between Universidade da Beira Interior and Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. One of the most common “club drugs” that the article talk about is ketamine, an animal tranquilizer, which works as a sedative and a pain reliever. When people with ketamine in their system have gone to the hospital the symptoms have often been mistaken for alcohol, which has caused these people to be given the wrong treatment. This new test is also good because it allows for hospitals to keep track on the drug use. The method that is used for this new type of testing is called “gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry”. This test not only detects small amounts of the substance from samples but also the main substance that is produced when these drugs are broken down in the body, making it easier for scientists to make sure that the test is accurate. Using this new test allows scientists to detect amounts of the drug as low as 5 nanograms per millimeter. The test also only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.
Why this new technique is so important is because these specific drugs have previously been very hard if not impossible to analyze and detect. One drug in particular, ketamine, has often been used as a date rape drug and since it has been hard to detect before in the body this new test might make it easier for rape victims to build a case against the offender. This testing is also much faster than other techniques which allows labs to work more quickly and efficiently.
I thought that the article was very interesting because making sure that drug testing is accurate is extremely important for many criminal cases. I also thought that the article did a good job explaining why this new type of testing is so good for the forensics community. One thing that I would’ve liked to learn more about is what happens during the actual process of the testing because the article only briefly explained that. I would’ve also liked it if the author drew some more parallels to different cases such as rape, and not just inebriated people going to the hospital. But overall I thought that this article was interesting.
Works cited:
Elsevier. "New 'party pill' test could help authorities keep up with trends in drug (ab)use: New test detects low levels of psychoactive drugs in urine and plasma." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125084008.htm>.
9 comments:
Emme, you did a great job summarizing to article that you read without too many words and it was very easy to follow. I really understood what you were telling us. It is a very interesting topic, and one of the most interesting things that I got out of your article was the fact that people with Ketamine in their system are misdiagnosed for just having alcohol in there system, and therefore, are mistreated, which is awful. The new technique created due to the collaboration of the different universities in spain is a huge discovery and makes the health word a lot safer. I also thought it was interesting because the the test can detect the substance but it can also break down the drug in the body which makes everything more accurate, and allows the scientists to be sure and precise. There is not much I would change in your report, because it was very easy to follow, interesting, and to the point, but one thing to improve your report would be to get more into depth about how this process occurs, because it is only discussed briefly and you only mentioned how it is an improvement from the previous systems we have been using. This is an awesome transformation in the forensic and medical world!
I reviewed Emme’s comment on the article, “New ‘Party Pill’ test could help authorities,” that discussed a new technique that could detect “club drugs” in urine and plasma samples. The new test is called gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry which detects the main substance that is produced when the drugs are broken down in the body so that the scientists can make sure that the tests are accurate. Emme did a great job explaining what the test is and how it could help determining whether party drugs, like ketamine, are actually in someone’s system. Emme also did a good job bringing up how this new technique works and how scientists are going to use it to end with more accurate results. She also went into detail on how party drugs can be mistaken for alcohol symptoms when a person is brought to the hospital. This test will help fix that problem. I think the review could have discussed a little more about how this test will be used and what stage the test process is at now. I also think that the review could’ve benefited from bringing up what other party drugs it could help identify. I learned a lot about how this test could save many people from being misdiagnosed and also help investigators determine if a person has taken a party drug or not. I was impressed at how well organized Emme’s comment was and that the information brought up in the review was thought out so that it was beneficial to the comment and summarized the article.
I enjoyed the subject of your article in that it was unique to most others that I have read so far this year. I find that I mostly read about crime scene analysis, so I found your introduction of toxicology unit to be refreshing. I think you did a great job relaying the importance drug testing in that it has found a quicker more efficient way to detect the drug in someone's system. I also think you did a great job pointing out the relevance of this drug being used in clubs as a date rape drug and that it can be used to help support rape victim’s cases in court. I think your review of the article could have been stronger if you gave an example of when this drug test has been used and how its effectiveness has helped a someone’s specific case. I personally found it interesting that it has similar symptoms to alcohol poisoning, that fact made me realize how important it is to be able to detect this drug physically, especially if it is easy to slip to someone else. Overall I think you had a concise and informative review, good job.
Elsevier. "New 'party pill' test could help authorities keep up with trends in drug (ab)use: New test detects low levels of psychoactive drugs in urine and plasma." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2015.
I thought that Emme did many things well in her review of the article about the new party pill test. One of the things I thought she did very well was explaining the significance of the new discovery and how it can help thousands of people. Another thing she did well was specifying which drugs in particular this new test could discover, as it goes more in depth than just saying “party pills”. Finally, I thought that Emme did a great job at briefly summarizing the important details of the article. This kept for an efficient review and made it much easier to follow as a reader. While Emme did many things well in her review, some of the things she could have done better include going into the details of how exactly scientists go about this process, as it would have been interesting to hear the details on how these tests are performed. Another thing that she could have done a little better is citing a specific case in which this test has been beneficial and used well. Overall, this review was very well done and I did not know that date rape drugs can be commonly mistaken for alcohol on screenings.
Works Cited
Elsevier. "New 'party pill' test could help authorities keep up with trends in drug (ab)use: New test detects low levels of psychoactive drugs in urine and plasma." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2015.
Emme, I really enjoyed your review of the article “New Party Pill Test Could Help Authorities.” There were a few things that stood out that made your review great. One, you did a great job summarizing your article. This was done in a concise matter which allowed me to quickly understand the topic at hand. Two, I liked how you mentioned the relevance of this new pill, and how it could affect so many people. Three, I think you did a great job in explaining the actual tests. This allowed me to visualize what exactly is happening and what drugs it can detect for.
Although I really enjoyed your review, there are a few things you could do to make it even better. One, I wish you gave us an example of this pill in action and how it helped authorities. This would have made your review stronger. Two, although you cited from the article directly, I wish you quoted a scientist or two and their opinions on this discovery.
Before reading your review, I had no clue date rape drugs could be mistaken for alcohol on drug screenings. This fact proves how important the discovery of this pill actually is. Again, I really enjoyed reading your review.
First off, Emme did a great job reviewing the article on this new party pill test. I thought it was great you started off with what the technique was and who helped create it. You then go on to use the example of the most common club drug, ketamine. You took your time in explaining what the drug is and what it slowly does to your body.You also talk about how this test is more accurate because of the device used and how it can detect small traces of the substances. Honestly you cover a lot of needed information in your review not leaving much to critique. one thing that could have been added was why they started to test this way along with how did the three creators combine their ideas to think of this. Overall, you did a great job on reviewing the article. I learned a lot about ketamine and its uses. Hopefully this test will help prevent any future damage.
Elsevier. "New 'party pill' test could help authorities keep up with trends in drug (ab)use: New test detects low levels of psychoactive drugs in urine and plasma." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2015. .
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125084008.htm
Emme did a fantastic job presenting this fascinating article with a skillful combination with factual evidence from the article and opinionated content to keep the reader truly intrigued . You obviously took a great deal of time crafting this excellent current event. This device is truly groundbreaking and i would have never learned about it if it weren't for this current event. Prior to reading this article I did not know what ketamine was and I have now learned a great deal about it. You could possible use some evidence from other articles in order to create a more complete current event with all the information that the reader could desire.
Elsevier. "New 'party pill' test could help authorities keep up with trends in drug (ab)use: New test detects low levels of psychoactive drugs in urine and plasma." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2015. .
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125084008.htm
Emme did a great job on her review of the article “New ‘Party Pill’ test could help authorities keep up with the trends in drug (ab)use.” Her opening sentence grabs the attention of the reader by listing the benefits of the newly discovered technique (“faster, easier, and cheaper”) and introducing “club drugs.” She continues to discuss that one of the most common “club drugs” that the original article talked about was ketamine, which can be used as a pain reliever and sedator. Emme did an especially good job of describing the test in the amount of detail that the original article allowed her to with little or no confusion for the reader. I enjoyed the small details that were included such as the fact that the test can detect amounts of ketamine that are as low as five nanograms per millimeter. Emme was also able to highlights of the effects of discovering this new technique called “gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry,” including the fact that the test can help hospitals keep track of drug usage and that it can detect specific drugs that once was very difficult to detect. Overall, Emme’s review of the article was written concisely and clearly.
However, as a reader, I had some difficulties understanding a few of the sentences, particularly in the paragraph that described the importance of this discovery. Also, the inclusion of a quote from the original article would have added an extra layer of depth to the review, although well-written.
I was especially impressed by the detail that people who have ketamine present in their systems have symptoms similar to that alcohol, in which they are wrongly treated at the hospital. I also learned that rape victims, since ketamine is often involved as a rape drug, can build a stronger case against offenders with this new technique.
This article was very interesting and well written. It was easy to read and understand the information. This article is about a newly discovered technique that makes it faster, easier, and cheaper for laboratories to detect “club drugs” in urine and plasma samples. The most common “club drug” mentioned in this article is ketamine, an animal tranquilizer, which works as a sedative and a pain reliever. People with ketamine in their system have gone to the hospital, with symptoms that have often been mistaken for alcohol, which has caused these people to be given the wrong treatment. This new test is beneficial because it allows for hospitals to keep track on the drug use. This test not only detects small amounts of the substance from samples but also makes it easier for scientists to make sure that the test is accurate.
This article was great overall, however it would have been better to include the reason why these drugs were created and how they were lead to the creation.
I thought it was interesting that ketamine has often been used as a date rape drug.
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