Fwd: U.S. v. Wylde

Mr. Faraj:

No problem. I'll plan on being there tomorrow morning. I've attached my
comments on Dr. Carstairs' report where I think I've addressed your
questions/comments below.

I do have a few questions:

1) You said the defendant synthesized his own spice. Do you know that he
used JWH-018 or another synthetic cannabinoid? Do you know what herbs he
added to the mixture? Do you know the recipe he used?

2) I haven't had the opportunity to review the record of the May 4th visit.
Can you send me copies so I can see exactly what was described?

I have also attached a listing of current state legal motions for synthetic
cannabinoids that I downloaded from the Oregon Board of Pharmacy website and
the best review that I've found about them from the European Monitoring
Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction that was published last year.

Sincerely:
MJM

Michael J. Matteucci MD FAAEM
CDR, MC (FS/FMF), USN
Program Director
Emergency Medicine Residency
Emergency Department
Naval Medical Center San Diego
Office: 619-532-8276
Cell: 619-719-2643

-----Original Message-----
From: Haytham Faraj [mailto:haytham@puckettfaraj.com]
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 11:07 PM
To: Matteucci, Michael J. CDR
Subject: U.S. v. Wylde

Dr. Matteucci,

I apologize that I couldn't contact you earlier today. I will need you to
be available in the courtroom on Wednesday morning. The courtroom is
located in the Joint Law Center at Miramar. The security personnel at the
main gate can direct you. Please try to be there by 0730.

I received a report prepared by Dr. Carstair today. I am attaching it for
your review. I have some serious issues with some of his conclusions and
the comparisons he makes to THC and HU-210. I believe he did that at the
behest of trial counsel to achieve greater impact with his conclusions. In
any event please review it and make some time available tomorrow (Tuesday)
evening to discuss it. Specifically, I want you to consider the following
points:

1.        He says these substances were never intended for human use. I am
aware that many of the best drugs we have available were inadvertently
stumbled upon by researchers.

2.       He calls JWH 018 a considerably more potent cannabinoid receptor
agonist than THC. What does that mean? No State is working on outlawing
JWH-018 but several are contemplating outlawing JWH-073 and HU-210 and THC
are already on the schedule of controlled substances. Why do you think he
uses the word potent?

3.       I have no idea what he is basing his views on. HE cites no peer
reviewed articles on research as to the effects but states that he read
online about people self reporting and it is based on self reports from
people that come in to the ER. Although I know that researchers often rely
on self reporting, truly acceptable research includes control groups,
empirical data and statistical analysis, peer reviewed research and of
course clinical replication. I am not a scientist but I know that much.
Please tell me what you think about Dr. Corsairs conclusions with respect to
the effects of "spice." Incidentally he even admits that it is difficult to
nail down because there is no consensus as to what spice really contains.

4.       Finally, his conclusion that Wiley's symptoms are potentially
consistent with the use of Spice is very nebulous. My question to him will
be can you state to a medical or a scientific certainty that the symptoms
were caused by spice? I am then going to ask him to point to the specific
chemical compound that caused the condition and to point the scientific
literature he relies upon for his conclusions. I would like your assistance
in pointing other weaknesses in his report.

Sincerely,

Haytham Faraj, Esq.

PUCKETT & FARAJ, PC

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