Since late 2019, low-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) preparations adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) have been frequently observed in Switzerland. The unawareness of users concerning the presence of SCs and the typically higher potency and toxicity of SCs, when compared with THC, can result in increased health risks. In Switzerland, low-THC (<1%) cannabis products, except hashish, are legal. These products can act as carrier materials for SCs. In this study, cannabis samples and user selfreports received through three drug checking services were collected and analysed, to gain deeper insight into this new phenomenon. Samples were collected from January 2020 to July 2021. Liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry was used for the qualitative screening and semi-quantification of SCs, while gas chromatography with flame ionization detector was applied for the quantification of THC and cannabidiol levels. Reported adverse effects were compared between users who consumed adulterated (SC-group) and non-adulterated (THC-group) products. Of a total 94 samples, 50% contained up to three different SCs. MDMB-4en-PINACA was most often detected. All adulterated cannabis flowers contained ≤1% THC. Adulterated hashish also typically presented low THC-levels (median: 0.8%). The SC-group was associated with higher numbers of adverse events (p = 0.041). Furthermore, psychologic (p = 0.0007) and cardiologic (p = 0.020) adverse effects were more profound in the SC-group than in the THC-group. Drug checking services enabled the timely detection and monitoring of new and potentially dangerous trends. Furthermore, due to user-reports, additional valuable information was gained on adverse events associated with the consumption of novel SCs.

Cannabis sativa (C. sativa) is commonly chemically classified based on its Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) content ratios. However, the plant contains nearly 150 additional cannabinoids, referred to as minor cannabinoids. Minor cannabinoids are gaining interest for improved plant and product characterization, e.g., for medical use, and bioanalytical questions in the medico-legal field. This study describes the development and validation of an analytical method for the elucidation of minor cannabinoid fingerprints, employing liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry. The method was used to characterize inflorescences from 18 different varieties of C. sativa, which were cultivated under the same standardized conditions. Complementing the targeted detection of 15 cannabinoids, untargeted metabolomics employing in silico assisted data analysis was used to detect additional plant ingredients with focus on cannabinoids. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate differences between varieties. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the ability of targeted and non-targeted metabolomics using the mentioned techniques to distinguish cannabis varieties from each other by their minor cannabinoid fingerprint. Quantitative determination of targeted cannabinoids already gave valuable information on cannabinoid fingerprints as well as inter- and intra-variety variability of cannabinoid contents. The untargeted workflow led to the detection of 19 additional compounds. PCA of the targeted and untargeted datasets revealed further subgroups extending commonly applied phenotype classification systems of cannabis. This study presents an analytical method for the comprehensive characterization of C. sativa varieties. Graphical abstract

Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) remain popular drugs of abuse. As many SCRAs are known to be mostly metabolized, in vitro phase I metabolic profiling was conducted of the two indazole-3-carboxamide SCRAs: CUMYL-THPINACA and ADAMANTYL-THPINACA. Both compounds were incubated using pooled human liver microsomes. The sample clean-up consisted of solid phase extraction, followed by analysis using liquid chromatography coupled to a high resolution mass spectrometer. In silico-assisted metabolite identification and structure elucidation with the data-mining software Compound Discoverer was applied. Overall, 28 metabolites were detected for CUMYL-THPINACA and 13 metabolites for ADAMATYL-THPINACA. Various mono-, di-, and tri-hydroxylated metabolites were detected. For each SCRA, an abundant and characteristic di-hydroxylated metabolite was identified as a possible in vivo biomarker for screening methods. Metabolizing cytochrome P450 isoenzymes were investigated via incubation of relevant recombinant liver enzymes. The involvement of mainly CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 in the metabolism of both substances were noted, and for CUMYL-THPINACA the additional involvement (to a lesser extent) of CYP2C8, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19 was observed. The results suggest that ADAMANTYL-THPINACA might be more prone to metabolic drug−drug interactions than CUMYL-THPINACA, when co-administrated with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors.

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