Journal of analytical toxicology
January 1, 2005
Jason Sklerov, Barry Levine, Karla A Moore et al.
142 citations
A 25-year-old white male died after consuming herbal extracts containing beta-carbolines and hallucinogenic tryptamines. Autopsy found no anatomic cause of death. Toxicologic analysis of heart blood identified N,N-dimethyltryptamine (0.02 mg/L), 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (1.88 mg/L), tetrahydroharmine (0.38 mg/L), harmaline (0.07 mg/L), and harmine (0.17 mg/L). The medical examiner ruled the cause of death as hallucinogenic amine intoxication and the manner of death as undetermined.
Journal of Forensic Sciences
May 1, 2001
Alison Grieshaber, Kate Moore, Barry Levine
77 citations
Psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, is rapidly converted to psilocin in the body. Psilocin is then further metabolized into a glucuronide conjugate that can be detected in urine. By using enzymatic hydrolysis to break the conjugate and derivatization to make the molecule suitable for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), the detection limit for psilocin in urine improved from 200 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL. Testing of real urine samples found psilocin in 6 out of 8 samples, with concentrations ranging from 10 ng/mL to over 200 ng/mL. Without hydrolysis and derivatization, no samples tested positive.
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
November 1, 1996
Gary W. Kunsman, Barry Levine, James J. Kuhlman et al.
48 citations
Urine specimens from 34 active-duty U.S. Army personnel who tested positive for amphetamines were reanalyzed. All samples contained both MDMA (ecstasy) and its metabolite MDA. MDMA concentrations ranged from 0.38 to 96.2 mg/L (mean 13.4 mg/L), and MDA concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 8.6 mg/L (mean 1.6 mg/L). The average ratio of MDA to MDMA was 0.15, similar to the ratio of amphetamine to methamphetamine (0.10). The presence of MDA at about 10–15% of the MDMA concentration is consistent with MDMA metabolism alone, suggesting use of only MDMA rather than combined use of both drugs.
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
July 1, 2006
J. H. Sklerov, Barry Levine, Karla A. Moore et al.
The authors argue that a previously published case report on the ingestion of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) lacks sufficient clarity regarding the chemical analysis and interpretation of results. They highlight the need for rigorous biochemical and analytical methods in forensic and clinical case reports involving psychedelic substances, emphasizing that ambiguous or incomplete data can lead to misinterpretation of the drug's effects on behavior and neurotransmitter systems. The paper calls for standardized reporting practices to ensure accurate understanding of such ingestions in medical and legal contexts.