scholarly journals Changes in neuronal activity in rat primary cortical cultures induced by illicit drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS) following prolonged exposure and washout to mimic human exposure scenarios

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 28-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Zwartsen ◽  
Laura Hondebrink ◽  
Remco HS Westerink
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Cortical Cultures

36. Principles, pragmatism, and prohibition: explaining continuity and change in british drug policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Late Nineteenth

This chapter analyses the development of British policy on illicit drugs from the late nineteenth century until 2016. It shows how this is characterized by contestation between social groups who have an interest in the control and regulation of some drugs and their users. It argues that there is a ‘medico-penal constellation’ of powerful organizations that produce British drug policy in accordance with their own ideas and interest. There have been clashes between the different principles held by people within these organizations but these have often been dealt with through the creation of pragmatic compromises. Recent examples include policies towards ‘recovery’ in drug treatment and new psychoactive substances whilst heroin-related deaths are used to explain why, so far, these pragmatic compromises have not ended the prohibition upon which British drug policy is based.

scholarly journals Molecular Networking: A Useful Tool for the Identification of New Psychoactive Substances in Seizures by LC–HRMS

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flaminia Vincenti ◽  
Camilla Montesano ◽  
Francesca Di Ottavio ◽  
Adolfo Gregori ◽  
Dario Compagnone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Product ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Nmr Analysis ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Molecular Networking ◽  
Fentanyl Analogs ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
Product Search

New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) are a global concern since they are spreading at an unprecedented rate. Despite their commerce still being limited compared to traditional illicit drugs, the identification of NPS in seizures may represent a challenge because of the variety of possible structures. In this study we report the successful application of molecular networking (MN) to identify unexpected fentanyl analogs in two seizures. The samples were extracted with 1 mL of methanol and analyzed with an untargeted data-dependent acquisition approach by LC–HRMS. The obtained data were examined using the MN workflow within the Global Natural Product Search (GNPS). A job was submitted to GNPS by including both seizures and standard mixtures containing synthetic cannabinoids and fentanyls raw files; spectra obtained from standards were used to establish representative networks for both molecular classes. All synthetic cannabinoids in the mixture were linked together resulting in a molecular network despite their different fragmentation spectra. Looking at fentanyls, all the molecules with the typical 188.143 and 105.070 fragments were combined in a representative network. By exploiting the standard networks two unexpected fentanyls were found in the analyzed seizures and were putatively annotated as para-fluorofuranylfentanyl and (iso)butyrylfentanyl. The identity of these two fentanyl analogs was confirmed by NMR analysis. Other m/z ratios in the seizures were compatible with fentanyl derivatives; however, they appeared to be minor constituents, probably impurities or synthetic byproducts. The latter might be of interest for investigations of common fingerprints among different seizures.

scholarly journals Sex and Gender Differences in the Effects of Novel Psychoactive Substances

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 606
Author(s):  
Liana Fattore ◽  
Matteo Marti ◽  
Rafaela Mostallino ◽  
Maria Paola Castelli
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Sex And Gender Differences

Sex and gender deeply affect the subjective effects and pharmaco-toxicological responses to drugs. Men are more likely than women to use almost all types of illicit drugs and to present to emergency departments for serious or fatal intoxications. However, women are just as likely as men to develop substance use disorders, and may be more susceptible to craving and relapse. Clinical and preclinical studies have shown important differences between males and females after administration of “classic” drugs of abuse (e.g., Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), morphine, cocaine). This scenario has become enormously complicated in the last decade with the overbearing appearance of the new psychoactive substances (NPS) that have emerged as alternatives to regulated drugs. To date, more than 900 NPS have been identified, and can be catalogued in different pharmacological categories including synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic stimulants (cathinones and amphetamine-like), hallucinogenic phenethylamines, synthetic opioids (fentanyls and non-fentanyls), new benzodiazepines and dissociative anesthetics (i.e., methoxetamine and phencyclidine-derivatives). This work collects the little knowledge reached so far on the effects of NPS in male and female animal and human subjects, highlighting how much sex and gender differences in the effects of NPS has yet to be studied and understood.

scholarly journals Overview of the major classes of new psychoactive substances, psychoactive effects, analytical determination and conformational analysis of selected illegal drugs

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-106
Author(s):  
Vera Lukić ◽  
Ružica Micić ◽  
Biljana Arsić ◽  
Bojan Nedović ◽  
Živana Radosavljević
Keyword(s):  
Conformational Analysis ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Analytical Determination ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Starting Point

Abstract The misuse of psychoactive substances is attracting a great deal of attention from the general public. An increase use of psychoactive substances is observed among young people who do not have enough awareness of the harmful effects of these substances. Easy access to illicit drugs at low cost and lack of effective means of routine screening for new psychoactive substances (NPS) have contributed to the rapid increase in their use. New research and evidence suggest that drug use can cause a variety of adverse psychological and physiological effects on human health (anxiety, panic, paranoia, psychosis, and seizures). We describe different classes of these NPS drugs with emphasis on the methods used to identify them and the identification of their metabolites in biological specimens. This is the first review that thoroughly gives the literature on both natural and synthetic illegal drugs with old known data and very hot new topics and investigations, which enables the researcher to use it as a starting point in the literature exploration and planning of the own research. For the first time, the conformational analysis was done for selected illegal drugs, giving rise to the search of the biologically active conformations both theoretically and using lab experiments.

scholarly journals Unexpected results found in larvae samples from two postmortem forensic cases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olwen Groth ◽  
Simon Franz ◽  
Helena Fels ◽  
Julia Krueger ◽  
Gabriele Roider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Synthetic Cannabinoids ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Pericardial Fluid ◽  
Supplementary Information ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Toxicological Analysis

Abstract Purpose In forensics, entomological specimens can be used as additional/alternative matrices to detect xenobiotics when human specimens are limited in their application. Despite some advantages over implementing putrefied human remains, most medico-legal laboratories do not include entomotoxicological procedures as routine analytical methods. We thus applied two authentic cases to evaluate necrophagous larvae’s potential as complementary matrices for toxicological analysis after extensive postmortem decomposition. Methods Larvae and postmortem human samples, including hair, stomach contents, pericardial fluid, liver, lung, and skeletal muscle, were collected at autopsy. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for pharmaceutical substances, illicit drugs, and new psychoactive substances, including synthetic cannabinoids, benzodiazepines, new synthetic opioids, and stimulants. Results Nearly all substances detected in human specimens, including several benzodiazepines and synthetic cannabinoids, were also detected in larvae. Surprisingly, some drugs, including the new psychoactive substances EAM-2201 and U-47700, were found exclusively in larvae and hair. The benzodiazepine etizolam was detected only in liver, lungs, and stomach contents, possibly resulting from characteristic tissue distribution in humans and/or larvae. Conclusions Antemortem external hair contamination with synthetic cannabinoids from side-stream smoke and postmortem hair contamination with substances in putrefaction fluids can be supposed in these cases. Our findings suggest that supplementary information can indeed be gained from analyzing larvae additional to those human specimens that are typically used for toxicological analysis after extensive postmortem decomposition. Nevertheless, these results represent merely two cases, requiring in-depth studies to determine whether such findings can identify acute intoxications as possible causes of death.

scholarly journals A Photoluminescent Colorimetric Probe of Bovine Serum Albumin-Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters for New Psychoactive Substances: Cathinone Drugs in Seized Street Samples

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (16) ◽  
pp. 3554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao-Te Yen ◽  
Ting-Yueh Chen ◽  
Chun-Yu Chen ◽  
Chi-Lun Chang ◽  
San-Chong Chyueh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bovine Serum Albumin ◽  
Serum Albumin ◽  
Bovine Serum ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Gold Nanoclusters ◽  
New Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Electron Transfer Mechanism ◽  
Crime Scenes

Screening of illicit drugs for new psychoactive substances—namely cathinone—at crime scenes is in high demand. A dual-emission bovine serum albumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters probe was synthesized and used for quantitation and screening of 4-chloromethcathinone and cathinone analogues in an aqueous solution. The photoluminescent (PL) color of the bovine serum albumin-stabilized Au nanoclusters (BSA-Au NCs) probe solution changed from red to dark blue during the identification of cathinone drugs when excited using a portable ultraviolet light-emitting diodes lamp (365 nm). This probe solution allows the PL color-changing point and limit of detection down to 10.0 and 0.14 mM, respectively, for 4-chloromethcathinone. The phenomenon of PL color-changing of BSA-Au NCs was attributed to its PL band at 650 nm, quenching through an electron transfer mechanism. The probe solution was highly specific to cathinone drugs, over other popular illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine, ketamine, and methamphetamine. The practicality of this BSA-Au NCs probe was assessed by using it to screen illicit drugs seized by law enforcement officers. All 20 actual cases from street and smuggling samples were validated using this BSA-Au NCs probe solution and then confirmed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results reveal this BSA-Au NCs probe solution is practical for screening cathinone drugs at crime scenes.

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