The Weird Stuff in Queensland Meth and MDMA (including n-ISO)

[Jabberwocky]

I just read an interesting paper using data from all Queensland police seizures of all drugs. In Queensland all drug cases being prosecuted require gas chromatography of the sample. Looking specifically at the results for Methamphetamine it is interesting to note the impurities detected by this legal process:

In 97 % of 6,608 seizures of methamphetamine there were no impurities detected (looking only at other drugs as impurities, not manufacturing residues). Who the Fuck would put seroquel in meth? More worrying are the psychoactive cuts in MDMA and other drugs. Stick to meth. It's the purest drug on the street.

3.2.1. Methamphetamine​

Almost all (97%) of methamphetamine samples were free of impurities (Table 1). The most frequently found impurity in methamphetamine was N-isopropylbenzylamine (37 cases). N-isopropylbenzylamine is known to be used to mimic or adulterate crystal methamphetamine (‘ice’) because of its ready availability and similar physical properties (U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration, 2008; Weston, 2010). Our methamphetamine samples were also adulterated with common recreational drugs including MDMA, cocaine and heroin as found elsewhere (Amini et al., 2015; Baldwin et al., 2018; Dayrit and Dumlao, 2004; Giné et al., 2014; Qi et al., 2007, 2006; Shekari et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2008). Several different NPS were found including: 25C-NBOMe (4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxy-N-(2-methoxybenzyl)phenethylamine) and α-PHP (alpha-pyrrolidinohexiophenone). N,N-dimethylamphetamine (DMA) appears to be a bulking agent or a by-product of methamphetamine synthesis. One methamphetamine sample contained praziquantel, an antihelminthic drug for parasitic worm infection. Five of the Queensland samples contained quetiapine, an antipsychotic drug. This is a novel finding, as quetiapine has not been reported as an impurity in methamphetamine elsewhere.

3.3.1. MDMA​

Although 19 different substances were detected as impurities in MDMA, 91% of the samples tested showed no impurities (Table 1). Psychostimulants (e.g., methamphetamine), psychedelics (e.g., MDA) and several NPS (e.g., ethylone) were major impurities found in our MDMA samples, and were also found in studies elsewhere, while the common impurities such as ketamine or PMA were not detected (Brunt et al., 2012, 2017; Camilleri and Caldicott, 2005; Cheng et al., 2006; Giné et al., 2014; Neeltje et al., 2009; Palhol et al., 2002; Tanner-Smith, 2006; Togni et al., 2015). Two samples of sildenafil (a drug prescribed for erectile dysfunction in Australia) were found in MDMA samples; sildenafil has not been reported as an impurity elsewhere.

The paper is here:

Yoshimi Peck, Alan R. Clough, Peter N. Culshaw, Michael J. Liddell,
Multi-drug cocktails: Impurities in commonly used illicit drugs seized by police in Queensland, Australia,
Drug and Alcohol Dependence,
Volume 201,
2019,
Pages 49-57,
ISSN 0376-8716,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.03.019.

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871619301577)

 

[Burnt Offerings]

So let me see if I'm reading this right..."real meth", like, actually exists?

That'll be news to some people on this forum

 

[andyturbo]

Jesus christ... i think the qld pol laboratories staff must be getting high on there own supply!

That doesnt at all match Federal Police Seizure data... in the slightest.. thats really left me clueless..

 

[andyturbo]

Perhaps some of those rediculous impurities were from trace ammounts of cross baggy contamination?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Jesus christ... i think the qld pol laboratories staff must be getting high on there own supply!

That doesnt at all match Federal Police Seizure data... in the slightest.. thats really left me clueless..

The Feds are likely seizing wholesale amounts near the top of the importing chain. The QLD data goes down as far as your getting busted with a gram on a Saturday night. Everything is tested in QLD if they want to prosecute.

Perhaps some of those rediculous impurities were from trace ammounts of cross baggy contamination?

More than likely

 

[Biscuit]

This is the first time I’ve seen ‘documented government lab level proof’ that N-ISO is being used as a cutting agent. Whilst there was that DEA circular from years back, I’ve never seen it actually reported as being present in any sample of meth, certainly not in Australia, until now.

If it is being used as it appears it is, it still cannot be in particularly great proportions within each batch, because the vast majority of seized “meth”, especially as the amount get larger, tests as very high purity.

Tbh I always regarded isopropylbenzylamine as an urban myth and shite gear was simply as a result of too much Levo in the mix.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I reckon what happened was the myth became self-fulfilling and a few dealers thought they’d give it a go as a cut after reading about it on the internet. But it was a failure - that’s why there’s only 37 positives out of 6000 tests.

 

[Biscuit]

^ yeah I totally missed that part of your post as I was left believing that the study found ISO to be prevalent and was going through a bit of soul searching.

Then I found another thread where you mentioned this and I then understood that you were saying it was a rare find. So I came back here to delete my original post, given the sentiment and belief with which I went cap in hand to post it initially; but you beat me to it and so no need to delete now.

Anyway, thank you for posting this and lending significant weight to this being one of the biggest urban myths in the worldwide production of amphetamines, in history.

 

[Tronica]

Thanks for posting this study @Atelier3

One thing to note about the MDMA side of it is that with police seizures, they can only look at substances containing MDMA and then see what other substances are detected. As @andyturbo commented above, they could be trace amounts through contamination. Usually these studies don't quantify. What police seizures can't do is tell us what proportion of the product sold as MDMA contains MDMA - as anything which contains nil MDMA will not make it into the police sample, and they don't have data on what the drug is sold as or expected to be.

That's where drug checking services come in. One day we will have a steady supply of this kind of data in Australia..

 

[Snafu in the Void]

As @andyturbo commented above, they could be trace amounts through contamination.

Perhaps some of those rediculous impurities were from trace ammounts of cross baggy contamination?

This.

If you look at published drug testing websites it's very common for samples to test positive for trace amounts of completely unrelated drugs or chemicals.

 

[Tronica]

This.

If you look at published drug testing websites it's very common for samples to test positive for trace amounts of completely unrelated drugs or chemicals.

The thing is, those trace amounts might matter. For example, if they are NBOMes or some of the fentanyl analogues.
But mostly it doesn't matter to the end user.

Which brings me back to the importance of quantification when we analysing substances. How someone respond to the information that their drugs at mostly MDMA but have a slight bit of meth in them is going to be different it if you knew it was 1% MDMA and mostly meth.

Then again if we could tell presence or absence (non quant) of some drugs, that might be enough information to avoid them altogether.

 

[Jabberwocky]

EZ Test offers an MDMA quantification test. I used the initial presence test and got all excited because it went purple black straight away. But upon testing the content it came back the ‘extremely low MDMA content’ shade of yellow.

Which just goes to show you’ve still got to be cautious with the reagent rests because you never know the strength of the drug or the contents of the cut.

 

[Tronica]

EZ Test offers an MDMA quantification test. I used the initial presence test and got all excited because it went purple black straight away. But upon testing the content it came back the ‘extremely low MDMA content’ shade of yellow.

Which just goes to show you’ve still got to be cautious with the reagent rests because you never know the strength of the drug or the contents of the cut.

Unfortunately reagent test kits can only tell you if something is present (unless they are the semi quantitative kind). And yes there are preparations out there with a small amount of MDMA (presumably to fool these tests) and with the bulk of them being a cathinone or similar NPS. If you test for presence of MDxx, you get your desired result - but the product is adulterated.

The best tech I've seen for drug checking is being used by Vancouver Island drug checking - it gives full content with quantitative information and does so 'on site'. Unfortunately the kit requires chemists and a few hundred thousand dollars, though. Still, it could one day be used more widely in drug checking services across the world. That'd be my hope, aim, goal, etc.