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 automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 4,518
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 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry
#7169913 - 07/13/07 05:01 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/07/12/marijuana_tec.html?category=technology
July 12, 2007 — Marijuana seized in a drug bust is evidence against the possessor, but where it came from often remains a mystery. Now scientists have a way to pinpoint whether the drug came from Mexico or Canada, or even if it was grown inside or out.
The information could eventually lead to a drug database and "marijuana map" that could help drug enforcement officials track trafficking patterns and trace the contraband to its source.
"If you found out a lot of marijuana was coming in from a particular region, it could potentially shape the way you allocate the limited resources you have for law enforcement," said Matthew Wooller, an associate professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
The clue to the drug's origin lies at the atomic level in forms of elements known as stable isotopes that are associated with growing conditions.
All plants need water, but the isotopic signature of water — its hydrogen and oxygen — can differ depending on latitude. For example, water from Alaska has a larger proportion of oxygen and hydrogen than water from Brazil. A marijuana plant grown in Alaska can reflect the ratio when analyzed.
And just as looking at the stable isotope ratio of hydrogen and oxygen can say something about where a plant was grown, so too can nitrogen and carbon reveal something about how the plant was grown.
That's because some marijuana is grown outside, soaking up the carbon dioxide naturally present in the atmosphere, while other plants are grown inside and fed CO2 from a tank.
"Tank CO2 can have a different isotopic signature than the CO2 in the atmosphere around us now," said Wooller.
Nitrogen isotopes reveal what kind of fertilizer, if any, was used.
"The use of these four elements is especially interesting considering that oxygen and hydrogen will provide information related to water source, while the isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen are related to others factors such as climate, temperature and nutrients availability on the soil," said Elisa Shibuya, a nuclear scientist at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Shibuya's team did similar analysis on cannabis using just two isotopes.
But while using a variety of isotopes can better pinpoint the drug, scientists need access to drug samples of known origin.
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wiccan you need a big glass of shut the fuck up ~ Stein
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
I wish my lawn was emo, cuz then it would cut itself ~ paraphrased by coda
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fastfred
Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 4,360
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: automan]
#7169938 - 07/13/07 05:30 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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"it could potentially shape the way you allocate the limited resources"
Ha! What limited resources? We spend over 20 billion dollars a year on this bullshit.
> For example, water from Alaska has a larger proportion of oxygen and hydrogen than water from Brazil.
They do such a piss poor job of explaining the science... sad.
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 Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 16,760
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 3 minutes, 50 seconds
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: fastfred]
#7169960 - 07/13/07 05:46 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
> For example, water from Alaska has a larger proportion of oxygen and hydrogen than water from Brazil.
They do such a piss poor job of explaining the science... sad.
They would probably confuse people if they tried to explain how Alaska has heavy water, or h30 while Brazil has light water, or ho. I'm pretty certain that it has something to do with the equator and magnetic poles. With global warming it is going to get nasty as heavy water becomes very unstable at warm temperatures. If Alaska gets too warm, it could blow up and destroy the entire universe! Maybe those two fat guys can team up (Moore Gore Productions) and make a docu-horror-we're-all-gonna-die-movie about it.
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Just another spore in the wind.
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 4o4
Stranger
Registered: 02/06/07
Posts: 13
Last seen: 4 months, 27 days
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: Seuss]
#7170344 - 07/13/07 09:50 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Seuss said:
Quote:
> For example, water from Alaska has a larger proportion of oxygen and hydrogen than water from Brazil.
They do such a piss poor job of explaining the science... sad.
They would probably confuse people if they tried to explain how Alaska has heavy water, or h30 while Brazil has light water, or ho.
are u sure thats it? i thought H3O+ is what makes an acid an acid and HO- is what makes a base basic. what makes heavy water is that the water molecules have dueterium. and heavy water is in greater concentrations in colder climates.
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Go grow a tree, and buy a solar panel, take up study of our home, our cradle, this Gaia, Am, Urantia, Terra, Earth or any other name you may have heard for the "third rock from sol". We can do so much, the universe awaits our actions, and the conscious being beneath our feet awaits our collective salvation.
We are the ones we've been waiting for
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Eraserhead
Lost Soul
Registered: 05/26/06
Posts: 1,356
Loc: Earth
Last seen: 5 months, 22 days
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: automan]
#7170860 - 07/13/07 11:55 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Hell, I can usually look at bud around here and tell if it's some canadian beasters, mexi brick, or some local headies.
It's not that hard people, and look, I can do that for free just by eyesight and don't cost a single taxpayer dollar.
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ToiletDuk
Lesbian Love Furnace
Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 37,979
Loc: EarthFarm 1
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: automan]
#7170877 - 07/13/07 11:58 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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More wasted money on a useless "drug war". 
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daytripper05
Psychonaut
Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 3,919
Loc: In my garden
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: Eraserhead]
#7171017 - 07/13/07 12:32 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Eraserhead said:
Hell, I can usually look at bud around here and tell if it's some canadian beasters, mexi brick, or some local headies.
It's not that hard people, and look, I can do that for free just by eyesight and don't cost a single taxpayer dollar.
No shit. I was thinking the same thing. You give me a bag, and i'll tell you a general synopsis about it. It would be a miracle if scientists would try to come up with some useful information like how useful cannabis is...I think they would find their spending to much for efficient.
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SuperD
THE SPIRIT OFTRUTH
Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 2,428
Loc: TX
Last seen: 4 hours, 40 minutes
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: ToiletDuk]
#7171145 - 07/13/07 01:06 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
ToiletDuk said:
More wasted money on a useless "drug war".
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I'd like you to meet my local drug dealer 
Bruce Campbell for a day! said: Go misidentify a mushroom please.
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fastfred
Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 4,360
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: 4o4]
#7171722 - 07/13/07 03:23 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
4o4 said:
Quote:
Seuss said:
Quote:
> For example, water from Alaska has a larger proportion of oxygen and hydrogen than water from Brazil.
They do such a piss poor job of explaining the science... sad.
They would probably confuse people if they tried to explain how Alaska has heavy water, or h30 while Brazil has light water, or ho.
are u sure thats it? i thought H3O+ is what makes an acid an acid and HO- is what makes a base basic. what makes heavy water is that the water molecules have deuterium. and heavy water is in greater concentrations in colder climates.
It's hard to properly write chemical notations in plain text. Heavy water is deuterium, D2O, 2H2O, or HDO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_water
The article shows such piss poor scientific understanding as to actually be completely false.
> For example, water from Alaska has a larger proportion of oxygen and hydrogen than water from Brazil.
Water is always H2O, two hydrogens and an oxygen. The only difference is the number of neutrons in them.
Here is information that will make the scientific basis clear.
http://wateriso.eas.purdue.edu/waterisotopes/pages/information/background.html
http://wateriso.eas.purdue.edu/waterisotopes/pages/information/mapping.html
-FF
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ApJunkie
part-time Ninja
Registered: 08/17/06
Posts: 2,010
Loc: Loc:Loc:Loc:Loc:Loc:
Last seen: 1 day, 15 hours
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Re: 'Marijuana Map' Possible With Chemistry [Re: fastfred]
#7172075 - 07/13/07 05:08 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Thanks for the good explanation FastFred, I thought Seuss was going to give a good one, but then ended up writing the best Sci-Fi thriller of the year. (;))
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"No summit don't call me stupid when you don't know my back round."
-albino_shroom
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