This project, performed at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE), addressed the urgent need for rapid identification and characterization of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) to combat emerging drug threats. Utilizing novel "sample-mining" and "data-mining" approaches, the researchers analyzed authentic biological specimens to detect emerging and previously unknown drugs. The study focused on six key objectives: NPS surveillance, monitoring, metabolism characterization, confirmation method development, the creation of educational "toolkits," and knowledge transfer to stakeholders. The project successfully identified 48 new substances and over 100 continually detected substances, including opioids (e.g., nitazenes), cannabinoids, stimulants, and benzodiazepines. A total of 153 drug standards were added to the testing library, and over 6,800 forensic toxicology specimens and extracts were tested, resulting in thousands of NPS identifications between 2021 and 2022. The researchers characterized metabolic pathways for key NPS (e.g., nitazene analogues, synthetic cannabinoids) using in vitro human liver microsomes and authentic case samples. Additionally, validated quantitative confirmation methods were developed to establish reference concentration data for fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Under a continuation award, an expert panel was convened to standardize drug nomenclature. This led to the development of the Forensically Relevant Drug Database (FRDD), an open-access repository for chemical and pharmacological data. The research filled critical knowledge gaps regarding the prevalence, toxicity, and chemical signatures of NPS, directly informing forensic laboratories, public health officials, and law enforcement. Data generated by this project contributed to the scheduling of multiple substances (e.g., Isotonitazene, Brorphine) by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
(Author abstract provided.)
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