Analytical Challenges with MS Analysis of Bath Salts and Spice Cannabinoid Metabolites
Authors: Joshua Cooper, Ryan Carrell, Ning Chang, Yunming Ying, Greg Kirkovits, Derrell Johnson, Isil Dilek, Uma Sreenivasan
Presented at Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT), Boston, MA, July 2012
Abstract
Spice cannabinoids emerged as a regulatory and societal threat in the mid-2000's followed soon after by cathinone-based stimulants. Marketed as “herbal incense" and “bath salts" or “plant food", Spice cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones, respectively, offer recreational highs that mimic illegal drugs such as THC, cocaine, methamphetamine, and LSD. The introduction of new and more potent structural analogs of “legal high" drugs along with their increasing popularity requires the continuous development of new methods for their identification and quantitation by clinical toxicology and forensic laboratories.