Identification of three unexpected new psychoactive substances at an Australian drug checking service.
Jess L Algar, Douglas J Lawes, Adam J Carroll, David Caldicott, Malcolm D Mcleod
Drug testing and analysis October 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1002/dta.3637 via PubMed
Summary
Three samples brought to Australia's first fixed-site drug checking service, CanTEST, were expected to be 4F-MPH, MXE, and 3-MMC but did not match any known substances on-site. Further laboratory analysis using NMR and mass spectrometry identified them as three previously undescribed new psychoactive substances: 4F-α-PiHP, 4F-MBZP, and propylphenidine. The case illustrates how drug checking services can rapidly detect and characterize emerging compounds in the unregulated drug market, supporting harm reduction and public health monitoring.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 3 |
| Population | Drug samples presented to a fixed-site drug checking service |
| Keywords | Drug checking Drugs Harm reduction New psychoactive substances Pill testing |
| Citations | 14 |
| Key finding | Three samples expected to be known substances were identified as three novel new psychoactive substances not previously described in the literature. |
Abstract
Drug checking is a harm reduction measure that provides people with the opportunity to confirm the identity and purity of substances before consumption. The CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service is Australia's first fixed-site drug checking service, where clients can learn about the contents of the samples they provide while receiving tailored harm reduction and health advice. Three samples were recently presented to the service with the expectation of 4-fluoromethylphenidate (4F-MPH) 1, methoxetamine (MXE) 2 and 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC) 3. The identity of all three samples did not meet these expectations and remained unknown on-site, as no high confidence identifications were obtained. However, further analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, high resolution gas chromatography-electron ionisation-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry at the nearby Australian National University allowed for the structure elucidation of the three samples as 4-fluoro-α-pyrrolidinoisohexanophenone (4F-α-PiHP) 4, 1-(4-fluorobenzyl)-4-methylpiperazine (4F-MBZP) 5 and N-propyl-1,2-diphenylethylamine (propylphenidine) 6, respectively. Given all three samples were not of the expected identity and have not yet been described as new psychoactive substances in the literature, this study presents a full characterisation of each compound. As exemplified by this rapid identification of three unexpected new psychoactive substances, drug checking can be used as an effective method to monitor the unregulated drug market.