Prevalence of new psychoactive substances and drugs of abuse in the hair of individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder: Polydrug and emerging pattern of consumption.
Journal of forensic sciences March 1, 2025 Arianna Giorgetti, Susan Mohamed, Filippo Pirani et al. 6 citations
Among 88 people diagnosed with substance use disorder at an addiction treatment service in Bologna, Italy, hair analysis showed that 95.5% tested positive for at least one substance. Of those, 88.1% had only traditional drugs of abuse, while 11.9% also had new psychoactive substances (NPS). Polydrug use was common: 67.9% of positive samples contained more than two drugs. Combining traditional drugs with NPS was more frequent in younger patients (under 21–30 years old). Ketamine appeared in 8.0% of all samples, often alongside cocaine (85.7% of cases). Fentanyl was detected in 3.4% of samples. Among NPS, only buphedrone was found. NPS consumption was relatively low in this group, but the high rate of polydrug and ketamine-cocaine use warrants monitoring.