Addiction (Abingdon, England)
April 20, 2025
Joseph J Palamar, Nina Abukahok, Patricia Acosta et al.
7 citations
About 2.7% of adults attending electronic dance music nightclubs in New York City reported using Tusi (also called pink cocaine or tusibí) in the past year. Tusi is a drug mixture often containing ketamine and other substances, and users may be unaware of its composition. Hispanic individuals had five times higher odds of use compared with white individuals. People who used ecstasy/MDMA, ketamine, or 2C series drugs in the past year were more likely to also use Tusi. Those reporting Tusi use were more likely to test positive for cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, or synthetic cathinones via saliva testing, and some tested positive for cocaine, ketamine, or methamphetamine even without reporting past-year use of those drugs.
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
January 27, 2025
Melissa F. Fogarty, Sara E Walton, Michael T Truver et al.
6 citations
N,N-dimethylpentylone (DMP), a synthetic cathinone found in counterfeit 'Ecstasy' and 'Molly' tablets, is a psychomotor stimulant that can cause adverse clinical outcomes including death. A new assay using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry measured DMP and five related compounds in 125 forensic cases. In postmortem blood, DMP concentrations ranged from 3.3 to 4600 ng/mL (mean 320 ng/mL, median 150 ng/mL). Its primary metabolite, pentylone, was present in 98% of cases. DMP potently inhibited the dopamine transporter (IC50 of 49 nM) but was 100-fold weaker at the serotonin transporter. In mice, DMP was a locomotor stimulant (ED50 of 3.5 mg/kg). After DMP's scheduling in 2024, an unregulated replacement may emerge.
Psychopharmacology
November 15, 2025
Michael H. Baumann, Grant C. Glatfelter, Sara E Walton et al.
1 citation
Intranasal delivery of the psychedelic compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is feasible and produces rapid drug uptake in rats. DMT given intranasally or subcutaneously caused similar effects, including increased flat body posture and decreased body temperature. Intranasal administration led to faster pharmacokinetics, with a half-life range of 11.9–14.3 minutes compared to 45.5–122.7 minutes for subcutaneous delivery, and higher peak drug concentrations. Importantly, maximal DMT concentrations in rats receiving low intranasal doses (30.2–55.6 ng/mL) overlap with psychoactive levels reported in humans, suggesting this non-invasive route may be viable for therapeutic use.
Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology
April 1, 2026
Aaron B Deutsch, Natalie E Ebeling-Koning, Alex J. Krotulski et al.
A 29-year-old man overdosed on 3-methyl-PCP, a novel dissociative anesthetic, and arrived at the emergency department with encephalopathy, tachycardia, hypertension, nystagmus, and diaphoresis. Laboratory tests showed severe rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury. The patient reported obtaining the drug online, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry confirmed 3-methyl-PCP in the drug product and biological specimens. This first laboratory-confirmed case demonstrates that 3-methyl-PCP can cause severe injury and highlights the public health risks of rapidly emerging, unregulated dissociative synthetic anesthetics. Early warning systems like the CSFRE NPS Discovery Program are critical for timely clinical response and public health protection.