scholarly journals Diverse psychotropic substances detected in drug and drug administration equipment samples submitted to drug checking services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2019–April 2020

2022 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy M. Scarfone ◽  
Nazlee Maghsoudi ◽  
Karen McDonald ◽  
Cristiana Stefan ◽  
Daniel R. Beriault ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Administration ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
High Potency ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
Market Monitoring ◽  
Drug Checking

Abstract Background The overdose crisis has generated innovative harm reduction and drug market monitoring strategies. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a multi-site drug checking service (DCS) pilot project was launched in October 2019. The project provides people who use drugs with information on the chemical composition of their substances, thereby increasing their capacity to make more informed decisions about their drug use and avoid overdose. DCS also provides real-time market monitoring to identify trends in the unregulated drug supply. Methods Sample data were obtained through analyses of drug and used drug administration equipment samples submitted anonymously and free of charge to DCS in downtown Toronto from October 10, 2019, to April 9, 2020, representing the first six months of DCS implementation. Analyses were conducted in clinical laboratories using liquid chromatography- and/or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS, GC–MS) techniques. Results Overall, 555 samples were submitted, with 49% (271) of samples that were found to contain high-potency opioids, of which 87% (235) also contained stimulants. Benzodiazepine-type drugs were found in 21% (116) of all samples, and synthetic cannabinoids in 1% (7) of all samples. Negative effects (including overdose, adverse health events, and extreme sedation) were reported for 11% (59) of samples submitted for analysis. Conclusions Toronto’s DCS identified a range of high-potency opioids with stimulants, benzodiazepine-type drugs, and a synthetic cannabinoid, AMB-FUBINACA. This information can inform a range of evidence-informed overdose prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Diverse Psychotropic Substances Detected in Drug and Paraphernalia Samples Submitted to Drug Checking Services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2019-April 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy Scarfone ◽  
Nazlee Maghsoudi ◽  
Karen McDonald ◽  
Cristiana Stefan ◽  
Daniel R Beriault ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
High Resolution Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
High Potency ◽  
Market Monitoring ◽  
Drug Checking

Abstract BackgroundThe opioid overdose crisis has generated innovative harm reduction and drug market monitoring strategies. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a multi-site drug checking service (DCS) pilot project was launched in October 2019. The project provides people who use drugs with information on the chemical composition of their substances, thereby increasing their capacity to make more informed decisions about their drug use and avoid overdose. DCS also provides real-time market monitoring to identify trends in the unregulated drug supply. MethodsSample data were obtained through analyses of drug and used paraphernalia samples submitted anonymously and free of charge to DCS in downtown Toronto from October 10, 2019 to April 9, 2020, representing the first six months of DCS implementation. Analyses were conducted in clinical laboratories using ultra high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS), and liquid chromatography or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS, GC-MS) techniques. ResultsOverall, 555 samples were submitted, with 49% (271) of samples that were found to contain high-potency opioids, of which 87% (235) also contained stimulants. Benzodiazepines or related drugs were also found in 21% (116) of all samples, and synthetic cannabinoids in 1% (7) of all samples. Negative effects (including overdose) were reported for 12% (69) of samples submitted for analysis.ConclusionsToronto’s DCS identified a range of high-potency opioids with stimulants, benzodiazepines and related drugs, and a synthetic cannabinoid, AMB-FUBINACA. This information can inform a range of evidence-informed overdose prevention efforts.

Auras of Detection: Power and Knowledge in Drug Prohibition

2021 ◽  
pp. 009145092110354
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Epistemic Authority ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Drug Supply ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Drug Checking

Drug checking is an evidence-based strategy for overdose prevention that continues to operate (where it operates) in a legal “gray zone” due to the legal classification of some drug checking tools as drug paraphernalia—the purview of law enforcement, not public health. This article takes the emergence of fentanyl in the U.S. drug supply as a starting point for examining two closely related questions about drug checking and drug market expertise. First, how is the epistemic authority of law enforcement over the material realities of the drug market produced? Second, in the context of that authority, what are the socio-political implications of technologically advanced drug checking instruments in the hands of people who use drugs? The expertise that people who use drugs maintain about the nature of illicit drug market and how to navigate the illicit drug supply has long been discounted as untrustworthy, irrational, or otherwise invalid. Yet, increased access to drug checking tools has the potential to afford the knowledge produced by people who use drugs a technological validity it has never before enjoyed. In this article, I engage with theories of knowledge production and ontological standpoint from the field of science, technology, and society studies to examine how law enforcement produces and maintains epistemic authority over the illicit drug market and to explore how drug checking technologies enable new forms of knowledge production. I argue that drug checking be viewed as a form of social resistance against law enforcement’s epistemological authority and as a refuge against the harms produced by drug criminalization.

scholarly journals The potential impacts of community drug checking within the overdose crisis: qualitative study exploring the perspective of prospective service users

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Wallace ◽  
Thea van Roode ◽  
Flora Pagan ◽  
Dennis Hore ◽  
Bernadette Pauly
Keyword(s):  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Socioecological Model ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Universal Approach ◽  
Drug Checking ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Background As drug checking becomes more integrated within public health responses to the overdose crisis, and potentially more institutionalized, there is value in critically questioning the impacts of drug checking as a harm reduction response. Methods As part of a pilot project to implement community drug checking in Victoria, BC, Canada, in-depth interviews (N = 27) were held with people who use or have used substances, family or friends of people who use substances, and/or people who make or distribute substances. Critical harm reduction and social justice perspectives and a socioecological model guided our analysis to understand the potential role of drug checking within the overdose crisis, from the perspective of prospective service users. Results Participants provided insight into who might benefit from community drug checking and potential benefits. They indicated drug checking addresses a “shared need” that could benefit people who use substances, people who care for people who use substances, and people who sell substances. Using a socioecological model, we identified four overarching themes corresponding to benefits at each level: “drug checking to improve health and wellbeing of people who use substances”, “drug checking to increase quality control in an unregulated market”, “drug checking to create healthier environments”, and “drug checking to mediate policies around substance use”. Conclusions Drug checking requires a universal approach to meet the needs of diverse populations who use substances, and must not be focused on abstinence based outcomes. As a harm reduction response, community drug checking has potential impacts beyond the individual level. These include increasing power and accountability within the illicit drug market, improving the health of communities, supporting safer supply initiatives and regulation of substances, and mitigating harms of criminalization. Evaluation of drug checking should consider potential impacts that extend beyond individual behaviour change and recognize lived realities and structural conditions.

Is methylphenidate a prescription drug being sold in the illegal market? Analysis of samples submitted to a drug checking facility

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S313-S313
Author(s):  
P. Quintana-Mathé ◽  
M. Grifell-Guàrdia ◽  
Á. Palma ◽  
I. Fornís-Espinosa ◽  
C. Gil-Lladanosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Energy Control ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Drug Checking ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Recreational Use

IntroductionMethylphenidate is a CNS stimulant approved for treatment of ADHD. It is generally considered well tolerated and exhibiting low dependence potential, although diversion for recreational use has been described. Provided that its effects are comparable to those of more popular drugs of abuse, such as cocaine and amphetamines, we hypothesized that it could be sold as such.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was:– to describe the presence of methylphenidate from the samples handled to, and analyzed by, Spanish harm-reduction service energy control between August 2009 and August 2015;– to determine whether it is being sold as other drugs.Materials and methodsAll samples presented to energy control (EC) were analyzed. EC is a Spanish harm-reduction non-governmental organization that offers to users the possibility of analyzing the substances they intend to consume.Samples in which methylphenidate was detected using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry were selected for this study.ResultsFrom a total of 20062 samples, 17 contained methylphenidate (0,09%), with no clear variations among the years studied. The samples were mostly sold as amphetamine (29%), methylphenidate (23%) and ethylphenidate (18%).ConclusionPresence of Methylphenidate in the Spanish illegal drug market seems anecdotic and stable over the studied timeframe. Moreover, it was sold as substances with similar dosages, lowering potential for life-threatening intoxications. Therefore, our results suggest that diversion of methylphenidate into the drug market as adulterant is not a concerning phenomenon.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Factors associated with drug checking service utilization among people who use drugs in a Canadian setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viseth Long ◽  
Jaime Arredondo ◽  
Lianping Ti ◽  
Cameron Grant ◽  
Kora DeBeck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Urine Drug Screen ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Drug Dealing ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Urine Drug ◽  
Drug Checking

Abstract Background The United States and Canada are amidst an opioid overdose crisis, with the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) among the hardest hit. In response, drug checking services (DCS) have been introduced in this setting as a novel pilot harm reduction intervention though little is known about usage rates. Therefore, we sought to identify factors associated with drug checking uptake among people who use drugs (PWUD) in Vancouver, BC. Methods Data were derived from three ongoing prospective cohort studies of PWUD in Vancouver between June and November 2018. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with self-reported DCS utilization in the past 6 months among participants at high risk of fentanyl exposure (i.e., those self-reporting illicit opioid use or testing positive for fentanyl via urine drug screen). Results Among 828 eligible participants, including 451 (55%) males, 176 (21%) reported recent use of DCS. In multivariable analyses, factors significantly associated with DCS utilization included: homelessness (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 1.47; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.01–2.13) and involvement in drug dealing (AOR 1.59; 95% CI 1.05–2.39). Conclusions In our sample of PWUD, uptake of DCS was low, although those who were homeless, a sub-population known to be at a heightened risk of overdose, were more likely to use the services. Those involved in drug dealing were also more likely to use the services, which may imply potential for improving drug market safety. Further evaluation of drug checking is warranted.

“Flakka”: an Emerging Trend Or a Mass Media Phenomenon? Presence of alpha-pvp in Samples Submitted To a Drug Checking Facility

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S442-S442 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Grifell ◽  
P. Quintana ◽  
M. Torrens ◽  
a. Palma ◽  
L. Galindo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trend Analysis ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Energy Control ◽  
Controlled Drugs ◽  
Noradrenaline Reuptake ◽  
Drug Checking ◽  
Competing Interest

IntroductionNew psychoactive substances (NPS) are drugs that have recently become available, are not worldwide regulated, and often intend to mimic the effect of controlled drugs. α-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone ( alpha-PVP) is a potent stimulant cathinone that is thought to act inhibiting dopamine and noradrenaline reuptake. It has been associated with hallucinations, psychosis and death.ObjectivesTo explore the presence of alpha-PVP from the samples handled to, and analyzed by energy control.To determine whether it is a new trend in recreational settings.Methodsall samples presented to energy control were analyzed.Samples in which alpha-PVP was detected using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry were selected for study.a Google trend analysis was also performed to asses the media impact of alpha-PVP.ResultsFrom a total of 20,062 samples, 33 contained alpha-PVP (0.16%). The samples containing alpha-PVP were mostly sold as such (40%) despite a significant proportion being sold as MDM a (15%). Google trend analysis showed an abrupt increase of alpha-PVP searches in 2015 reaching 50% of the MDM a-ones.ConclusionOur results suggest presence of alpha-PVP in the drug market may be increasing, especially as adulterant of other drugs. Severe side effects might be even more serious considering that a significant proportion of users may ignore which substance they are actually using. However, the total amount of alpha-PVP analyzed remains small, and does not support the alarming reports published in media.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Presence of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine (DOB) among samples brought for drug checking in Spain

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S171-S171
Author(s):  
P. Quintana-Mathé ◽  
M. Grifell-Guardia ◽  
Á. Palma-Conesa ◽  
C. Gil-Lladanosa ◽  
I. Fornís-Espinosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Agonist Activity ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Energy Control ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Drug Checking ◽  
Competing Interest

IntroductionNew Psychoactive Substances (NPS) appear to be increasing in popularity because they mimic the effect of traditional drugs. DOB is a world-wide controlled phenethylamine, with agonist activity in 5HT2A receptors. Its effects are comparable to those of LSD, with dosage range 1.0–3.0 mg and duration 18–30 h.ObjectiveTo assess the presence of DOB in the substances submitted to, and analyzed by, energy control.Materials and methodsAll samples presented to Energy Control (EC) from August 2009 to August 2015 were analyzed. EC is a spanish harm-reduction non governmental organization that offers to users the possibility of analyzing the substances they intend to consume. Samples in which DOB was detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were selected for this study.ResultsFrom a total of 20,062 samples, 13 contained DOB (0,06%), with no clear variations among the years studied. The samples were mostly sold as DOC(8), DOB(2) and LSD(2). Nine out of total 13 samples presented as blotter.ConclusionResults suggest that availability of DOB in the Spanish drug market is anecdotic. Nonetheless, a number of the samples containing DOB were not sold as such, increasing the possibility of side effects, as users may ignore which substance they are actually using. When a patient presents at an Emergency Department with persistent hallucinogenic symptomatology after ingesting a blotter, psychiatrist should be aware of long-lasting psychedelics such as DOB.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Identification and Analytical Characterization of a Novel Synthetic Cannabinoid-Type Substance in Herbal Material in Europe

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 793
Author(s):  
Emmanouil D. Tsochatzis ◽  
Joao Alberto Lopes ◽  
Margaret V. Holland ◽  
Fabiano Reniero ◽  
Giovanni Palmieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Cannabinoid Receptor ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoid ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists ◽  
Analytical Laboratories

The rapid diffusion of new psychoactive substances (NPS) presents unprecedented challenges to both customs authorities and analytical laboratories involved in their detection and characterization. In this study an analytical approach to the identification and structural elucidation of a novel synthetic cannabimimetic, quinolin-8-yl-3-[(4,4-difluoropiperidin-1-yl) sulfonyl]-4-methylbenzoate (2F-QMPSB), detected in seized herbal material, is detailed. An acid precursor 4-methyl-3-(4,4-difluoro-1-piperidinylsulfonyl) benzoic acid (2F-MPSBA), has also been identified in the same seized material. After extraction from the herbal material the synthetic cannabimimetic, also referred to as synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists or “synthetic cannabinoids”, was characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 1H, 13C, 19F and 15N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-MS/MS) combined with chromatographic separation. A cheminformatics platform was used to manage and interpret the analytical data from these techniques.

scholarly journals The Implementation of Drug Checking Services for People Who Use Drugs: A Systematic Review

Qeios ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazlee Maghsoudi ◽  
Justine Tanguay ◽  
Kristy Scarfone ◽  
Indhu Rammohan ◽  
Carolyn Ziegler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Drug Checking
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