| Popis: |
New psychoactive substances (NPS), known as designer drugs (Internet drugs, research chemicals, "legal"…) are non-therapeutic substances that act on mental health, behavior and perception, and pose a threat to public health. They are analogues or chemical derivatives of controlled drugs, designed to achieve similar effects as illegal ones. Because of their distinctive features, the use of NPS is most commonly observed in young recreational users at electronic music festivals. In Croatia, for five years, the Ultra Music Festival has been held for 3 days in Split, followed by parties on nearby islands in next 2-3 days. It has been attending by more and more young people from a number of countries around the world. Due to the fact of NPS increasing on the market and their consumption during music festivals, we considered that information about the possible NPS supply and consumption during the Festival in Split would be useful information. During the three days of the music festival, eighteen urine samples, collected in 2016 and 2017 from chemical toilets located close to the venue of the festival, were analyzed. A solid-phase extraction was performed using Supelclean Envi Florisil and Supelclean LC-18-Reversed–Phase (Supelco, Sigma Aldrich (Taufkirchen, Germany) as well as liquid-liquid extraction method using TOXI Tubes A (Varian, Palo Alto, CA, USA). Samples were qualitatively analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique (GC/MS) using full-scan mode on a Shimadzu GC/MS-QP2010 Ultra (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan). The chromatographic column was InterCap 5MS/NP. Data were compared with Wiley Mass spectra of designer drugs library (DD2015) and with a free database of Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG), as well as in-house library containing about 1000 compounds and metabolites. In all eighteen urine samples a total of 45 different substances were found, out of which 25 were classical substances and 20 were substances from the new psychoactive substances (NPS) group. Most of the determined classical substances were stimulants and opioid analgesics. In NPS group, most of them were from the phenethylamine and then cathinone group. It could be concluded that urine sample analysis is a powerful tool for understanding of the availability and NPS use. |
