Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 09:28:06 -0400 From: Ken Skau <ken.skau@uc.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2735$foo@default> Subject: colchicine
As a registered pharmacist and professor of pharmacology perhaps I can shed
some light on the colchicine discussion. Colchicine is used primarily to
treat pain associated with gout. It is very toxic with as many as 85% of
the people who use it experiencing some adverse effects even when taken in
normal therapeutic doses. It is a testament to the pain of gout that
patients are willing to accept the side effects of colchicine in order to
alleviate the gout pain. Colchicine is not a "Controlled" substance in the
United States in that is is not listed under the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) Schedules as outlined by the Controlled Substance Act
of 1970. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that as a
medication it can be dispensed in the United States only upon prescription
by a physician or other qualified practitioner. No pharmacist is going to
give you some tablets, even if you explain what you want to use it for,
because it is illegal to do so and the pharmacist is unlikely to risk
his/her license for such a trivial reason. Furthermore, you probably would
not want to use colchicine solubilized from the prescription product
because there are so many fillers and excipients in the tablets that might
not be good for the plant. Colchicine is not a drug of abuse. While there
may have been isolated incidences of people trying to abuse this, and
virtually every other, drug, it is not considered to be a problem for a
couple of reasons. First, there is absolutely no type of euphoria
associated with its use so no one would want to continue to use it. Second
is what we call "culling the herd". Those individuals who would attempt to
abuse this drug, despite the lack of positive feedback, would most likely
become terminal. This is a very potent drug with adverse effects occuring
after injestion of less than 1 mg. although lethality occurs at somewhat
higher doses (65 mg). People inexperienced in working with chemicals could
inhale enough colchicine or absorb it through the skin to produce adverse
effects. My suggestion is to try less toxic substances for your "ploidy"
experiments.
Kind Regards,
Ken Skau
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