Dextromethorphan is a nonprescription antitussive which has been gaining in popularity as an abused drug, because of the hallucinogenic, dissociative, and intoxicating effects it produces at high doses. This report describes a series of eight drivers arrested for driving under the influence of the combined effects of dextromethorphan and chlorpheniramine, and a further four drivers under the...
Abstract: Profiling illicit ecstasy tablets has the potential to become an invaluable tool in the crackdown on drug trafficking, but that potential has yet to be fully realized. The impurity profile of an ecstasy tablet can be used to determine the method employed to synthesize the actual controlled substance, which in most cases, is 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Tablets can then be...
Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a psychoactive amphetamine derivative widely used for recreational purposes. Deaths caused by acute drug intoxication with MDMA are rare but can often involve a severe hyperthermic episode. The factors underlying the increased risk of some ecstasy users to a fatal drug reaction are not known. We present a case report of a 24-year-old woman...
ABSTRACT: This paper describes a procedure for the determination of psilocin and psilocybin in mushroom extracts using high‐performance liquid chromatography with postcolumn chemiluminescence detection. A number of extraction methods for psilocin and psilocybin in hallucinogenic mushrooms were investigated, with a simple methanolic extraction being found to be most effective. Psilocin and...
Abstract Accurate and sensitive analytical methods for psilocin (PC) and psilocybin (PB), tryptamine-type hallucinogens contained in “magic mushrooms,” were investigated using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). The chromatographic separation on an ODS column and mass spectral information gave complete discrimination...
Abstract It has recently been reported that purity of illicit tablets of ecstasy (MDMA) is now high. Our objective was to confirm whether hair of drug users, who request only ecstasy from their supplier, contains MDMA in the absence of other drugs. GC-MS analysis of scalp hair segments disclosed the presence of MDMA in 19 of 21 subjects and amphetamine/methamphetamine in eight subjects....
Abstract Psilocyn and psilocybin can be identified in different stages of developing psilocybe mushrooms. Knowing the various stages of the mushroom development can be useful when receiving evidence from illicit mushroom growing operations. Exhibits from three separate cases were submitted to the drug analysis section of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Forensic Science Laboratory....
Abstract MDMA (“ecstasy”) has gained renewed popularity as a drug of abuse. To access the epidemiology and causes of death of MDMA-positive fatalities, all deaths investigated by the OCME that tested positive for MDMA (22 deaths) between January 1997 and June 2000 were reviewed. There were three deaths in each 1997 and 1998, eleven in 1999, and five in the first part of 2000. Of these 22...
Abstract 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, is increasing in popularity in the United States as a drug of abuse. It has stimulant and empathogenic mood altering properties with the potential to affect psychomotor skills and impact driving. This report reviews the literature relating to the relevant psychomotor effects of the drug, the relationship between dose and blood concentrations,...
Abstract The following questions regarding the detection of psychoactive drugs in mushrooms are addressed: At what stage of the mushroom development can the psychoactive drugs psilocyn and psilocybin be identified, and what effect does light have on the growth of these mushrooms. To answer these questions, Psilocybe cyanescens Wakefield mushrooms were grown from their spores in a controlled...
Abstract This report describes a simplified extraction technique for the analysis of LSD by GC/MS. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Forensic Laboratory recently received two suspected LSD cases involving four sugar cubes and seven food coloring bottles each containing a liquid substance. Following the extraction described in this report, both cases were subsequently confirmed by...
Abstract The identification of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has posed an analytical challenge for forensic science laboratories. In those cases in which a few doses are seized, only microgram quantities are available, often in forms which make isolation of the miniscule amount of LSD difficult. A method is described which yields small crystals of pure LSD in a form well-suited for analysis...
Abstract Commonly used gold chloride and its diluted forms are compared with gold bromide for potential microcrystalloscopic differentiation of 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and related amphetamine derivatives. The crystal formation characteristics of MDA, mescaline, and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine (DOET) with diluted and undiluted gold chloride allow differentiation of these drugs,...
Abstract The N-methyl-N-propyl, N-methyl-N-isopropy, N-butyl, N-isobutyl, N-sec-butyl and N-tert-butyl amides of lysergic acid were synthesized to determine the specificity of electron impact mass spectroscopy (EI/MS), when combined with other analytical techniques, for the identification of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). After separation of the C8 axial and equatorial isomers by preparative...
Abstract A method has been developed for the rapid isolation and identification of psilocin from psilocin/psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Based on the difference in the solubility properties in butyl chloride of psilocin and other constituents present in psilocin/psilocybin-containing mushrooms, psilocin was easily separated in pure form.
Abstract A simple aqueous extraction method for the isolation and identification of psilocin from Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms is reported. This method employs a dephosphorylation of the phosphate ester to psilocin, which facilitates a greater product yield and simplifies identification. Psilocin extracted by this method is sufficiently concentrated and free of cocontaminants to allow...
Abstract A method using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an acetonitrile, water, and phosphoric acid mobile phase and a bonded cyano-amino-type polar phase column has been developed for the rapid, selective, and accurate quantitation of psilocybin in dry mushroom material. A simple one-step procedure is used for the quantitative extraction of psilocybin in under 60 min. The...
Abstract A method has been developed for the analysis of psilocybin and psilocin in dry and preserved mushrooms using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. A mobile phase of phosphate buffered methanol/water/cetrimonium bromide allows good separation of the two hallucinogens.
Abstract 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant chemically and pharmacologically related to amphetamine and mescaline [1–3] (Fig. 1). The phenylisopropylamine portion of the molecule gives MDA marked sympathomimetic activity similar to amphetamine demonstrated by peripheral vasoconstriction, tachycardia, pupillary dilation, and effects on other...