its technical name was tri-o-cresyl phosphate. The name explains the structure: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen bond into a ring-shaped structure called a cresol (also found in creosote), and phosphorus hangs on to the ring like an exhausted swimmer gripping a life preserver. In the new Jamaican Gingers the plasticizer combined with denatured alcohol to form a compound called an organophosphate. That potent combination was responsible for Jake’s newly powerful buzz. The dizzying sensation derived from the fact that the compound was also an efficient neurotoxin—as became almost immediately and
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