Epidemiology of Blood Kratom and Cannabis Detection from Postmortem Autopsy at the Forensic Medicine Department of Chulalongkorn University Before and After the Change of Narcotic Laws in Thailand
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Kratom and cannabis are psychoactive substances being monitored in Thailand and foreign countries. During the past four years, Thailand’s narcotic laws regarding kratom and cannabis were changed. This study aims to demonstrate epidemiologic data of kratom and cannabis detection in deceased individuals one year before and after the change of the laws in Bangkok area. The cut-point dates were August 24th, 2021 for kratom and December 15th, 2020 for cannabis. Postmortem forensic toxicologic reports from the Forensic Medicine Department of Chulalongkorn University which conducted postmortem autopsies were analyzed. The factors including age, sex, nationality, cause of death and other substance use were studied. The result showed a rising trend of positive kratom toxicology while an increasing trend of cannabis toxicology was also noticed. Mitragynine from kratom had been detected at the rate of 0-5 cases per month for 7months prior to the change of related narcotic laws and 4-11 cases per month after the change. Three cases of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from cannabis toxicology had been detected in the period of 12 months after the change. These trends should be monitored regularly for the purposes of controlling and suppressing abuse and national policy planning.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
เนื้อหาและข้อมูลในบทความที่ลงตีพิมพ์ใน วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ โรงเรียนนายร้อยตำรวจ ถิอว่าเป็นข้อคิดเห็นและความรั้บผิดชอบของผู้เขียนบทความโดยตรงซึ่งกองบรรณาธิการวารสาร ไม่จำเป็นต้องเห็นด้วยหรือรับผิดชอบใดๆ
บทความ ข้อมูล เนื้อหา รูปภาพ ฯลฯ ที่ได้รับการตีพิมพ์ใน วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ ถือว่าเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของวารสาร วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ หากบุคคลหรือหน่วยงานใดต้องการนำทั้งหมดหรือส่วนหนึ่งส่วนใดไปเผยแพร่ต่อหรือเพื่อกระทำการใดๆ จะต้องได้รับอนุญาตเป็นลายลักษณ์อักษรจาก วารสารวิชาการอาชญาวิทยาและนิติวิทยาศาสตร์ ก่อนเท่านั้น
References
Bergen-Cico, D., & MacClurg, K. (2016). Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use, addiction potential, and legal status. Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse, 3, 903–911.
Brunet, B., & Mura, P. (2014). Cannabis and drug-facilitated crimes. Toxicological Aspects of Drug-Facilitated Crimes (pp. 139–157). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-416748-3.00006-2
Cerdá, M., Mauro, C., Hamilton, A., Levy, N. S., Santaella-Tenorio, J., Hasin, D., Wall, M. M., Keyes, K. M., & Martins, S. S. (2019). Association between recreational marijuana legalization in the United States and changes in marijuana use and cannabis use disorder from 2008 to 2016. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(2), 165–171.
Choi, N. G., Marti, C. N., & DiNitto, D. M. (2019). Changes in post-mortem marijuana-positive toxicologies among youth suicide decedents, 2005–2015. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 461–467.
Corkery, J. M., Streete, P., Claridge, H., Goodair, C., Papanti, D., Orsolini, L., Schifano, F., Sikka, K., Körber, S., & Hendricks, A. (2019). Characteristics of deaths associated with kratom use. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 33(9), 1102–1123.
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction. (n.d.). Kratom drug profile. Retrieved October 22, 2022. from https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/ drug-profiles/kratom
Farmer, C. M., Monfort, S. S., & Woods, A. N. (2022). Changes in traffic crash rates after legalization of marijuana: results by crash severity. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 83(4), 494–501.
Forensic Drug Addict Monitoring Network. (2022). Report from forensic drug addict monitoring project in 2021 (pp. 35–38, 43–46). Retrieved October 22, 2022. from https://nctc.oncb.go.th/manage/researchMgt/import/researchFull/20220908_140703ONCB.pdf (In Thai)
Jittasopa, W., & Srisont, S. (2021). The causes of death and pathological findings of kratom users. American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology, 42(4), 335–340.
Jordan, A., Sherazi, A., Flewelling, A. J., Northrup, V., Naseemuddin, A., & Shea, J. L. (2022). Identification of cannabinoids in post-mortem blood samples from the province of New Brunswick before and after recreational cannabis legalization. International Journal of Drug Policy, 103, 1–7.
Kratom Act B.E. 2565. (2022, 26 August). Ratchakitchanubeksa. Book 139, Part 52 Kor, pp. 1-14. (In Thai).
Lemos, N. P., & Ingle, E. A. (2011). Cannabinoids in postmortem toxicology. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 35(7), 394–401.
Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. (2020). Marijuana use recommendation for medical purpose. Retrieved October 22, 2022. from http://cannabis.fda.moph.go.th/wp-content/uploads/PDF/manual/February_2020/Guidance-Updated-v-4_update-20200120-cover.pdf. (In Thai).
Narcotic Act B.E. 2564 No.8. (2021, 26 May). Ratchakitchanubeksa. Book 138, Part 35 Kor, pp. 1-3. (In Thai)
Narongchai, P., Narongchai, S., & Thampituk, S. (2007). The incidence of drug abuse in unnatural deaths in northern Thailand. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand, 90(1), 137–142.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids. National Academies Press. Retrieved October 22, 2022. from https://doi.org/10.17226/24625
Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Reference of narcotic drug group 5 B.E. 2563. (2020, 13 December). Ratchakitchanubeksa. Book 137, Special Part 290 Ngor, pp. 33-34. (In Thai)
Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Reference of narcotic drug group 5 B.E. 2565. (2022, 9 Feburary). Ratchakitchanubeksa. Book 139, Special Part 35 Ngor, pp. 8 (In Thai)
Pongchanthuek, S. (1991). Narcotic drug control and rehabilitation. Region 7 Medical Journal, 10(3), 185–191. (In Thai)
Schlaffer, M.Craddock, A., & Collins, J. J. (1997). Fact Sheet: Drug-Related Crime. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved October 22, 2022. from http://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/ pdf/DRRC.PDF.
Smart, R., & Pacula, R. L. (2019). Early evidence of the impact of cannabis legalization on cannabis use, cannabis use disorder, and the use of other substances: Findings from state policy evaluations. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 45(6), 644–663.
Tangsermkijsakul, A., & Pipatchotitham, T. (2022). Prevalence of commonly abused drugs detected from drug testing in unnatural death cases during 1-year period at Thammasat University Hospital. Asian Medical Journal and Alternative Medicine, 22(1), 40–49.
Tansrisawad, N. (2021). Cannabis in forensic aspect. Revolution in global health. September 8-10, 2021. Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
(In Thai)
United Nations. (1996). Final act of the United Nations conference for the adoption of a single convention on narcotic drugs 1961. Retrieved October 22, 2022. from https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2022). World drug report 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022. from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2022.html
Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R. B. (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(23), 2219–2227.
Worasuwannarak, W., Sribanditmongkol, P., Aramrattana, A., Junkuy, A., Chaijaruwanich, J., Kummaraka, U., Kawilapat, S., Homkham, N., Traisathit, P., & Forensic Drug Addict Monitoring Network. (2019). Trends in substance abuse detection in unnatural deaths in Thailand, 2007–2018. ONCB Journal, 35(3), 44–51. (In Thai)
Wu, G., Li, Y., & Lang, X. E. (2022). Effects of recreational marijuana legalization on clearance rates for violent crimes: evidence from Oregon. International Journal of Drug Policy, 100, 1–6.
