The cases of botulinum poisoning have reminded us of it, which have made news in recent weeks, the drugs remind us that on Augustan nights are consumed more. The poisons hunters in summer do not stop indeed: the laboratories of the Antivileni Center of Maugeri di Pavia which acts as a national level to trace substances when it comes to helping someone who presents symptoms of poisoning work at full capacity, With more work when it comes to setting stimulants and drugs.
“We have an incessant job always,” he says Carlo Locatelli Director of the Center, “Summer is no different, except in the fact that in the holiday periods we see an increase in abuse substances, and also of the stimulants used to stay awakewhich are seen less during the week in the school period: in the summer period, in which each evening is a party, every evening you are late and in some areas, such as the Riviera Romagnola or the Veneto, there is a great influx of boys also from abroad, which go there specifically so as not to sleep, dance all night: we see an abuse of stimulants, because the false justification is that they help to have performances that would not be able to keep. This since the time of cocaine, the ecstasy has a peak in the summer ».
How are you involved in the search for these substances?
“We have an institutional task that is given by the Department for Anti -drug policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, to intercept the cases of intoxication from new drugs, for the whole national territory. Hospitals contact us for each case that arrives. But we are unable to intercept the cases that do not arrive in the hospital, we do not know how many those who have had disorders as a small medium entity that have each got away with it. We can only filter the most serious cases, which end up in the hospital environment, whatever it is, whether in Sardinia or San Donà di Piave. We are contacted by the doctor who locally takes charge of the first problem because we have this institutional assignment, according to because we are the only place where there is what the diagnostic examination does for everyone. So let’s go to take the champions with a speed that depends on the urgency, we make the analyzes, and identify the substances involved, when possible. It is the same work that we have done with the cases of botulism, that have engaged the chronicles in recent days: we are going to look for any sought substance, because on the thousand and broken circulating substances we manage to identify about half of them through the analyzes because they are also circulating many that are not yet known. In fact, we have a certain amount of false negatives, because either the sample is late, or the substance has disappeared, it has been metabolized, we do not know what the metabolites are, or it is a new substance. So the power to have false negatives with clinics that are evident, is quite frequent for us. Let’s say it is so all over the world, that you cannot always identify everything. Often it is time that nullifies the race: substances like the so -called rape drug leave trace in the urine for a short time ».
Today the substances are on the internet, do you risk even more with things that are not known?
“There is a total lightness because the substances are sold as they were candy, in the last period we have had poisoning cannbinoid intoxications really sold with the ease of the candies and as such moreover also accessible to children by mistake: the market is traitor, the seller is traitor because it makes everything seem easy and attractive by hiding the risks. The boys think: if it were dangerous I would know, instead it is not so at all, often they are simply substances that do not know the effect of the substance instead is often extremely heavy because each new molecule is produced in order to be more powerful than the previous ones. So over 15 years an incredible toxicological power was reached compared to those we knew years ago. And here is the reason for many ugly cases ».
Coming to the other theme of the summer, the one that caused even fatal food poisoning in this period. The rhetoric should be reviewed according to which “homemade genuine home”, “the same industrialist – I say badly – artifact” that often circulates?
«It depends: in the case of botulism, yes. In the case of other things, no. I want to say it is better to eat the salad collected in the home garden than the one that comes from Egypt. As regards botulism, reality is that about 95% of cases occur with home preserves. The industrial supply chain is generally safer, then in cases of the clusters of Cagliari and Cosenza under accusation are two products of industrial origin, only research will be able to say whether the contamination has taken place during the production or conservation and sales phase. Let’s say that with botulism the case studies is certainly worse for home preserves, but it is true that in some regions in Italy it is used a lot to make aubergines, artichokes, in oil that are at risk compared to acid, undernosal or sugary ones. If we count how many do and how many cases of botulism occur we understand that the event is rare, but very dangerous: it is probably the most powerful poison in the world. Often people are not aware of it or know how complicated it is complicated to treat those who remain contaminated with it ».
Can you do something more at the information level?
«The media should do it that many more people than we can do. We need correct information on the fact that there are also natural poisons, it helps to say that you have to be careful in doing things and scrupulously stick to the rules in doing them. Then it is also true that after known cases people are afraid also to buy preserves at the supermarket, but this is a mistake, because it is right to remember that the controls are very rigorous: there is an unparalleled preventive action on food compared to all other things especially in our country. There is a high -level preventive control that is made throughout the supply chain by the manufacturer, to the orthoprops to those who transform, so we must not worry people, then it may happen that a suspicion of contamination makes a lot of product withdraw by precaution. The work of the Nas is precious in control, but producers are also generally very collaborative ».
Is it true that on drugs do you directly prevent in schools?
«Yes, but ours is a drop in the sea, we meet hundreds of students, but the message of a rapper on social media reaches many more guys and in the opposite direction to ours is much more effective than us. I would not like to use the word censorship, but the power of a song that tells the beauty of the high is a very dangerous message that worries me a lot ».
Very current words, just go down to the street in coastal places, around mid -August, to find a Ligurian country covered with posters that invite a disco party until dawn, where the musical group that the soul has the name of a psychotropic substance. One between who knows how many.
