Characteristics and time course of benzodiazepine-type new psychoactive substance detections in Australia: results from the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia - Victoria project 2020-2022

Syrjanen, Rebekka; Greene, Shaun L.; Weber, Courtney; Smith, Jennifer L.; Hodgson, Sarah E.; Abouchedid, Rachelle; Gerostamoulos, Dimitri; Maplesden, Jacqueline; Knott, Jonathan; Hollerer, Hans; Rotella, Joe-Anthony; Graudins, Andis; Schumann, Jennifer L.

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104245

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 29 publications

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“…Benzodiazepine-type NPS consumption is possibly lured by their relatively low cost. Consequently, benzodiazepine-type NPS have been increasingly identified in biological specimen, particularly in polydrug overdoses [68]. From a total of 1112 cases recorded between September 2020 and August 2022, the detection of at least one benzodiazepine-type NPS was analytically confirmed in 183 overdose cases (16.5%), with clonazolam being the most frequently detected benzodiazepine-type NPS [68].…”

Section: Asia and Oceaniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting novel psychoactive substances around the world

Salomone,

Vincenti

2024

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of review The worldwide spread of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the illicit drug market and their continuous increase in number and type, for the purpose of bypassing controlled substance legislation, represents a continuing challenge for forensic scientists, clinicians and enforcement authorities. We aim to provide information regarding the most urgent harms related to NPS consumption in different world regions and the current state of the art for NPS analysis. Recent findings Unfortunately, the identification of NPS in biological samples is controversial, especially when samples are limited, or the drug is promptly and extensively metabolized. This causes a lack of information on their real diffusion in different parts of the world and in different populations. New technologies and instrumental detection of NPS in alternative samples are offering comprehensive information about NPS use. Summary The lack of detection and underreporting of NPS in biological samples makes it difficult to obtain complete qualitative and quantitative information about NPS prevalence. The most innovative strategies that have been proposed in the last 2 years to assist NPS analysis and possibly facilitate the understanding of the NPS diffusion around the world are presented.

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Section: Asia and Oceaniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting novel psychoactive substances around the world

Salomone,

Vincenti

2024

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Identification of clobromazolam in Australian emergency department intoxications using data-independent high-resolution mass spectrometry and the HighResNPS.com database

Castle,

Syrjanen,

Di Rago

et al. 2024

Journal of Analytical Toxicology

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The proliferation of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) continues to challenge toxicology laboratories. In particular, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime considers designer benzodiazepines to be a current primary threat among all NPSs. Herein, we report detection of a new emerging designer benzodiazepine, clobromazolam, using high-resolution mass spectrometry and untargeted data acquisition in combination with a “suspect screening” method built from the crowd-sourced HighResNPS.com database. Our laboratory first detected clobromazolam in emergency department presenting intoxications included within the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia—Victoria project in the state of Victoria, Australia, from April 2022 to March 2023. Clobromazolam was the most frequent designer benzodiazepine detected in this cohort (100/993 cases, 10%). No patients reported intentional administration of clobromazolam, although over half reported exposure to alprazolam, which was detected in only 7% of cases. Polydrug use was prevalent (98%), with phenazepam (45%), methylamphetamine (71%) and other benzodiazepines (60%) most frequently co-detected. This is the first case series published in the literature concerning clobromazolam in clinical patients. The identification of clobromazolam in patients presenting to emergency departments in Victoria demonstrates how high-resolution mass spectrometry coupled with the HighResNPS.com database can be a valuable tool to assist toxicology laboratories in keeping abreast of emerging psychoactive drug use.

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Public health surveillance of new psychoactive substances: recent developments

Fitzgerald,

Cottler,

Palamar

2024

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of review New psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to emerge globally and present a threat to public health. This article summarizes the most recent literature on approaches for monitoring NPS use and adverse events related to use. Recent findings A variety of approaches have recently been employed for surveillance of NPS use and associated harms, including the use of toxicology testing of patients in emergency departments, surveys of sentinel populations, drug checking and syringe services programs, wastewater-based epidemiology, and retrospective analyses of clinical samples and toxicology reports. These studies cover a range of time periods and NPS examined across numerous countries. Summary Areas of particular interest for future research include the use of data from drug checking services to inform surveillance efforts of the illicit drug supply and the development of methods for wastewater-based monitoring of NPS. Studies that combine self-report data with toxicology testing in particular are important for capturing unintentional or unknown exposure to NPS including fentanyls and drugs like xylazine. Given the limitations associated with individual indicators of drug use and associated harms, the harmonization of multiple data sources can help present a more complete picture of both trends involving NPS to better inform public health responses.

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Characteristics and time course of benzodiazepine-type new psychoactive substance detections in Australia: results from the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia - Victoria project 2020-2022

Cited by 3 publications

References 29 publications

Detecting novel psychoactive substances around the world

Detecting novel psychoactive substances around the world

Identification of clobromazolam in Australian emergency department intoxications using data-independent high-resolution mass spectrometry and the HighResNPS.com database

Public health surveillance of new psychoactive substances: recent developments

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