Scientific identification and diagnosis of new psychoactive substances (NPS)Case of study: new non-herbal psychoactive substances

In recent years, new psychoactive substances have become a serious challenge for countries in the field of combating the production, sale, prevention and treatment of addicts and victims of these substances. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the methods of scientific identification and diagnosis of new non-herbal psychoactive substances (NPS).

The current research is practical in terms of its purpose and experimental in terms of its execution method. The statistical population of the research was samples of exposed substances from foreign travelers in the period of 1395-1398, which were identified and diagnosed using machine analysis methods. The basis of identification and diagnosis was matching the reported spectra of the device with the spectra available in the UNODC reference. The study of the library and documentary part of the research was also based on a systematic review in the period from 1980 to 2022 and included all the articles published in the electronic database with the combination of appropriate keywords.

In this research, sample preparation and device settings were done in mass spectrometry and infrared spectrometry and then the prepared samples were injected into the corresponding devices. In mass spectrometry of ion fragments with higher intensity and in infrared spectrometry, the numbers of functional groups were obtained, and these spectra were interpreted in the conclusion.

The spectra obtained from the mass spectrometer and infrared spectrometer were interpreted and after comparing the reported spectra of the device with the spectra available in the UNODC reference, 8 types of new psychoactive substances were identified. They contained different amounts of addictive substances. These compounds are: 1-Dimethoxybromoamphetamine, 2-Ethyldimethoxyphenylethanamide, 3-Fluoro-MDMB-Pinaka, 4-Fluoro-ADB-Pinaka, 5-Fluoro-MDMB-Botanika and 6-MDMB-EN-Pinaka.