How Emerging Drugs of Abuse are Outpacing Detection Capability

Based off of the latest research from a publication supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), new insight is provided as to the proliferation of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) and the continuing threat to public health it imposes. The structural analogs for these novel psychoactive substances are so closely related to traditionally abused drugs which gives chemists an opportunity to synthesize and market these new substances, and in turn, makes it challenging for forensic laboratories to identify and detect.

Without the easy ability to monitor these threats, understanding their scope of abuse is difficult. To compare them with traditional counterparts would suggest that drastic increases of abuse would be possible. Recent data supported by Millennium Health with more than 1 million patients between 2013 to 2019 indicated radical increases in methamphetamines (486%) and fentanyl (333%).

The study goes on to show the behavioral response of rats using intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) and validation with α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP). The results "propose a preclinical testing algorithm that capitalizes on ICSS testing for rapid screening of NPS's to guide prioritization of resources for drug control and development of methods for drug analysis."

With the expanding development of novel psychoactive substances, a greater inclusion of broad substance testing could benefit in the early detection process. With an all-in-one testing option, urinalysis cups and dip cards with 16+ panels are a great option to increase your monitoring efforts. To access the complete study, follow the link below.

A strategy to prioritize emerging drugs of abuse for analysis: Abuse liability testing using intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) in rats and validation with α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP)  

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