A dark green liquid seized by police from a member of the Santo Daime religious movement was analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The extract contained N,N-dimethyltryptamine (a potent hallucinogen) and the beta-carboline alkaloids harmine and harmaline, which inhibit monoamine oxidase A. These substances are typical components of Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic beverage made by boiling Banisteriopsis caapi bark with Psychotria viridis leaves.
A dark green liquid found in an underage boy's bedroom contained mescaline, the hallucinogen from peyote cactus. Urine tested negative for the drug, but segmental hair analysis detected mescaline in the hair segment closest to the root (0–2 cm), indicating recent use. Distal hair segments were negative. A new gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method was developed to measure mescaline at low concentrations in hair. The case shows that segmental hair analysis can provide long-term information about drug use even when urine is negative.