Salvia divinorum, a hallucinogenic mint used traditionally by the Mazatec Indians of Mexico, has appeared in Switzerland in illicit hemp plantations and horticulturists' greenhouses. Young people in Mexican cities have smoked its dried leaves as a marijuana substitute. The active compound, salvinorin A, was identified in plant extracts. These findings suggest multiple attempts to use S. divinorum as a recreational drug in Switzerland, possibly because neither the plant nor its active compound are banned under Swiss narcotic law.
Two sets of tablets from the Swiss black market were analyzed to identify 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) using multiple analytical methods including GC-MS, HPLC-DAD, CE-DAD, FTIR, and NMR. Only a combination of mass spectrometry and NMR provided unequivocal identification. Quantitation by HPLC-DAD and CE-DAD showed the tablets contained 3 to 8 mg of 2C-B, which is within the minimum amount needed to produce the drug's characteristic effects.