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Synthetic Cathinones and Related Fatalities in the United Kingdom
Published in Ornella Corazza, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, Handbook of Novel Psychoactive Substances, 2018
John M. Corkery, Christine Goodair, Hugh Claridge
Several synthetic cathinones have been brought under international control but only in recent years and all under Schedule II of the 1971 UN Convention (UNODC, 2017): MDPV, mephedrone, and methylone in 2015; α-PVP in 2016; ethylone, pentedrone and 4-MEC, MDPV, mephedrone, and methylone are controlled under Schedule I of the US Controlled Substances Act 1970.
Underreporting of drug use among electronic dance music party attendees
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2021
Joseph J. Palamar, Alberto Salomone, Katherine M. Keyes
Although past-year LSD use was reported by 20.4% of participants, only 5.9% tested positive for exposure, and hair results did not add to self-report (Table 2 continued). While an estimated 11.2% used ketamine (based on self-report), hair detection was three-times higher (33.3%). Positive hair test results added 24.8% to adjusted prevalence of self-reported use. With regard to opioids, most reported use went undetected during hair testing, with hair testing adding <1% to self-reported prevalence of use. Of note, two cases (1.1% of the sample) tested positive for fentanyl exposure after not reporting use. Ethylone and MDEA were not reportedly used by any participants, but 4.0% and 2.6%, respectively, tested positive for these compounds. None of the other compounds we tested for were detected. Table 3 provides correct classification statistics (sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value) regarding hair test results in comparison to self-report.
“Bath Salt” Use and Beliefs about Use among Electronic Dance Music Attendees
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2018
An estimated 3.5% (95% CI: 2.0, 6.1) of EDM attendees have knowingly used “bath salts.” As shown in Table 1, of those reporting “bath salt” use, over a third (34.7%) reported use of ethylone, followed by “bath salt” unknown or not listed (30.4%), methylone (20.5%), mephedrone (9.0%), 4-MEC (7.2%), methcathinone (3.7%), 4-FMC (3.3%), 3,4-DMMC (2.9%), and 3-MMC (1.3%). Almost half (46.7%) of the sample agreed that “bath salts” are more harmful than MDMA, 30.1% agreed that “bath salts” have turned users into cannibals, 30.0% agreed that “bath salts” are sometimes found in Molly, and 14.9% agreed that they might have unknowingly used “bath salts.”
Wastewater analysis for psychoactive substances at music festivals across New South Wales, Australia in 2019–2020
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2022
Jonathan Brett, Krista J. Siefried, Amy Healey, Mary Ellen Harrod, Erica Franklin, Monica J. Barratt, Jem Masters, Lynn Nguyen, Santosh Adiraju, Cobus Gerber
Despite no reports of NPS consumption at festivals surveyed, we detected a range of NPS, albeit at lower detection frequencies and concentrations. The commonest of these was methylone, followed by ethylone and methcathinone. N-ethylpentylone was only found in one portaloo at one festival (001a) in which all portaloos were sampled, a particularly toxic cathinone that may have gone undetected had all portaloos not been sampled [27]. In an Australian survey sample, intentional use of synthetic cathinones amongst a group of people from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) was as low as 1% in 2020, and listings on the darknet continue to drop [28]. While some of this cathinone use may be intentional and not captured in festival surveys, the implication is that cathinones may either be adulterating more traditional illicit drugs or mis-sold. Supporting this, a recent study of police seizures of illicit substances found that MDMA was adulterated with ethylone and less frequently methylone [17]. Drug checking services invite members of the public to anonymously submit psychoactive drug samples for forensic analysis and then provide individualised feedback of results and counselling as appropriate [29]. Formally approved drug checking services have only been provided twice in Australia, at the same music festival in Canberra in 2018 and 2019 [2]. In 2019, this service identified seven samples containing N-ethylpentylone that were reportedly sold as MDMA [30]. A similar UK study found that up to one in five substances was not as sold or acquired and 3.5% of samples contained cathinones [13]. Adulteration or substitution with cathinones has implications as some of these compounds are known to be highly toxic, particularly in combination with other stimulants such as MDMA. Despite screening for a wide range of other NPS compounds, few were identified. This may be because few to none were consumed, despite being found in police seizures in a prior Queensland based study [17], or that they were not detected for sampling or analytical reasons. The detection of norfentanyl may be related to therapeutic use of fentanyl, recreational use or adulteration or substitution of other drugs; however, there have been recent alerts of fentanyl-contaminated cocaine [31].