From midnight (starting 26 May 2016) the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 comes into effect, aiming to stamp out the market in ‘legal highs’ or novel psychoactive substances. The Act, which has seen several delays this year, will make it an offence to import, sell, supply or produce any substance knowing that it…
Tag: caffeine
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Doping: black and white or shades of grey
In the fall out from the Sharapova Meldonium case much has been made of what is and what isn’t cheating or doping. This is not such a certain area, containing many shades of grey. People caught doping are often said to have crossed the line. But what is the line and…
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Brain doping – use of smart drugs in sport
A study was published late last year in the open access journal PlosOne on ‘cognitive doping’ in triathlon. That was a new phrase for me so I thought it was worth a bit of a look. The paper, titled ‘Associations between Physical and Cognitive Doping – A Cross-Sectional…
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And now they want to ban caffeine?
Well, ok not really completely ban, just regulate. This week there was a suggestion that the amount of caffeine put into energy drinks may be harmful or deadly to younger caffeine drinker. Is this justified or an overreaction? A group of Amercian experts (medics, scientists and public health…
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Caffeine in hair
Last year I had an undergraduate student investigate the analysis of caffeine in hair samples. The aim was to determine if there was a correlation between the amount of caffeine in the hair sample and the amount of caffeine drunk by the individual. The student produced a very good…