Drug Dustbin
Bluelighter
HPLC on the dance floor
Many young people spend their weekends at dance
parties, popularly known as “raves”, and many of
them want to intensify their experiences by
swallowing unidentified and illegal pills.
Drug-prevention workers who are familiar with
raves know that the main drug taken is Ecstasy
(3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine or
MDMA), but other drugs are also sold. The workers
also know that confounding these pills is not an
efficient way to prevent their use.
So a team from the laboratory of the State
Pharmacist of the Canton of Bern (Switzerland) got
the government’s permission to install a mobile
HPLC system at a rave. The instrument allowed the on-site identification and quantification
of the drugs, and to the team’s surprise, it also induced discussions with the public about the
myths and facts of the pills.
The Ecstasy tests were conducted from Sept 1998 to Oct 1999. The funding came from the
Social and Health Department of the Canton of Bern. Similar projects had already been
running in The Netherlands and Germany (using a simple color reaction) and in Austria (by
HPLC), but only in Switzerland was the HPLC apparatus operating under the eyes of the
public. This apparently caught the attention of the dancers and enabled them to talk candidly
to the drug-prevention workers. “The ravers were really curious about what we were
doing, and some wanted even to understand the principle of the analysis,” says Daniel
Allemann, the technician who conceived and implemented the idea.
Allemann took the individual parts of an HPLC system, which were essentially leftovers
from the former Pharmaceutical Institute of the University of Bern, mounted them on a
three-level, 65 × 130-cm wheeled cart; bought the necessary software; and started the first
tests in the laboratory. On a second cart, he installed an analytical balance. “The table with
the balance was installed firmly, and of course, we did not bring it in front of a loudspeaker
or in a drafty corner,” he explains. Another helpful trick was to run the HPLC column at 50
°C because the ambient temperature could be somewhere between 10 and 30 °C, depending
on the season and location of the instrument.
The analytical system consisted of an autosampler, an octadecylsilica stationary phase, and
a fast-scanning UV detector, which allowed the storage of the spectra of the separated
compounds. The separation was done by a water– acetonitrile gradient with phosphoric
acid and hexylamine. Within 12 min, it was possible to separate norephedrine, ephedrine,
amphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), meth amphetamine, MDMA,
3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDE), and caffeine. Although the run-to-run time
was ~20 min—allowing a maximum of three analyses per hour—this approach gave an
overview of the types of pills consumed during the rave.
“The analysis was free,” quips Allemann, “but those ravers who were interested had to
[talk] with a [drug-prevention worker], fill out a questionnaire, and . . . leave us a quarter
of their pill—which had cost them $10 dollars or more. For the assay, 10 mg of the material
was weighed, sonicated with the mobile phase, filtrated, and injected. A photograph of each
pill also was taken.
Niklaus Tüller, the state pharmacist, says the project was a success. It was possible to
inform the ravers about the dangers of the pills and discuss strategies to help reduce the
risks. Although the goal was not to demand abstinence, some people refused to take their
pills after the discussions and even crushed them on the ground.
The team verified that most pills sold as Ecstasy contained 60–120 mg of MDMA as the
single active compound. (The analytical result was always disclosed to the individual who
had brought the sample.) However, in some pills, other drugs such as amphetamine and
caffeine were found. One type of pill, called “Alien”, had 2 mg of atropine plus caffeine as
the active ingredients. Because that combination was particularly dangerous, the ravers
were warned about it with a flyer.
However, despite these results and the continued interest of Tüller, Allemann, and the
others who were directly involved, everyone doubts that the project will be allowed to
continue. Strictly speaking, the work is illegal, and there is little reason to think that will
change anytime soon.
Veronika Meyer
This article was taken from Analytical Chemistry December 1, 2000; p. 735 A-736 A
Many young people spend their weekends at dance
parties, popularly known as “raves”, and many of
them want to intensify their experiences by
swallowing unidentified and illegal pills.
Drug-prevention workers who are familiar with
raves know that the main drug taken is Ecstasy
(3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine or
MDMA), but other drugs are also sold. The workers
also know that confounding these pills is not an
efficient way to prevent their use.
So a team from the laboratory of the State
Pharmacist of the Canton of Bern (Switzerland) got
the government’s permission to install a mobile
HPLC system at a rave. The instrument allowed the on-site identification and quantification
of the drugs, and to the team’s surprise, it also induced discussions with the public about the
myths and facts of the pills.
The Ecstasy tests were conducted from Sept 1998 to Oct 1999. The funding came from the
Social and Health Department of the Canton of Bern. Similar projects had already been
running in The Netherlands and Germany (using a simple color reaction) and in Austria (by
HPLC), but only in Switzerland was the HPLC apparatus operating under the eyes of the
public. This apparently caught the attention of the dancers and enabled them to talk candidly
to the drug-prevention workers. “The ravers were really curious about what we were
doing, and some wanted even to understand the principle of the analysis,” says Daniel
Allemann, the technician who conceived and implemented the idea.
Allemann took the individual parts of an HPLC system, which were essentially leftovers
from the former Pharmaceutical Institute of the University of Bern, mounted them on a
three-level, 65 × 130-cm wheeled cart; bought the necessary software; and started the first
tests in the laboratory. On a second cart, he installed an analytical balance. “The table with
the balance was installed firmly, and of course, we did not bring it in front of a loudspeaker
or in a drafty corner,” he explains. Another helpful trick was to run the HPLC column at 50
°C because the ambient temperature could be somewhere between 10 and 30 °C, depending
on the season and location of the instrument.
The analytical system consisted of an autosampler, an octadecylsilica stationary phase, and
a fast-scanning UV detector, which allowed the storage of the spectra of the separated
compounds. The separation was done by a water– acetonitrile gradient with phosphoric
acid and hexylamine. Within 12 min, it was possible to separate norephedrine, ephedrine,
amphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), meth amphetamine, MDMA,
3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDE), and caffeine. Although the run-to-run time
was ~20 min—allowing a maximum of three analyses per hour—this approach gave an
overview of the types of pills consumed during the rave.
“The analysis was free,” quips Allemann, “but those ravers who were interested had to
[talk] with a [drug-prevention worker], fill out a questionnaire, and . . . leave us a quarter
of their pill—which had cost them $10 dollars or more. For the assay, 10 mg of the material
was weighed, sonicated with the mobile phase, filtrated, and injected. A photograph of each
pill also was taken.
Niklaus Tüller, the state pharmacist, says the project was a success. It was possible to
inform the ravers about the dangers of the pills and discuss strategies to help reduce the
risks. Although the goal was not to demand abstinence, some people refused to take their
pills after the discussions and even crushed them on the ground.
The team verified that most pills sold as Ecstasy contained 60–120 mg of MDMA as the
single active compound. (The analytical result was always disclosed to the individual who
had brought the sample.) However, in some pills, other drugs such as amphetamine and
caffeine were found. One type of pill, called “Alien”, had 2 mg of atropine plus caffeine as
the active ingredients. Because that combination was particularly dangerous, the ravers
were warned about it with a flyer.
However, despite these results and the continued interest of Tüller, Allemann, and the
others who were directly involved, everyone doubts that the project will be allowed to
continue. Strictly speaking, the work is illegal, and there is little reason to think that will
change anytime soon.
Veronika Meyer
This article was taken from Analytical Chemistry December 1, 2000; p. 735 A-736 A
