In the last decade hundreds of new psychoactive substances (NPS) have emerged in the drug market, taking advantage of the delay occurring between their introduction into the market and their legal ban. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) NPS describes a recently emerged drug that may pose a public health threat. The DEA issues a quarterly Emerging Threat Report, which catalogues the newest identified NPS.



NPS tend to mimic the psychotropic effects of traditional drugs of abuse, but their acute and chronic toxicity, and side-effects are largely unknown. While seizure data from the DEA is often used to indicate what new drugs are being sold in the US, there is a lack of research examining and confirming who has been using such drugs.

Joseph J. Palamar, PhD, MPH, a New York University researcher, has been researching incidental and intentional use of NPS by young adults. His current line of inquiry has focused on survey methods, qualitative interviews, and hair sampling to ascertain frequency and type of NPS use by nightclub-goers--a demographic which traditionally has a relaxed view towards recreational drug experimentation and use.

NPS are common adulterants in drugs such as ecstasy (MDMA), which has seen an increase in popularity since it became marketed as “Molly”. Ironically, “Molly” connotes a product that is pure MDMA. In a related study, Palamar and his team found that four out of ten nightclub/festival attendees who used ecstasy or “Molly” tested positive for “bath salts” despite reporting no use.

In their current study, “Hair Testing for Drugs of Abuse and New Psychoactive Substances in a High-Risk Population,” Dr. Alberto Salomone, an affiliated researcher at the Centro Regionale Antidoping e di Tossicologia “A. Bertinaria”, Orbassano, Turin, Italy and Dr. Palamar, affiliated with NYU’s Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR), collected hair samples from 80 young adults outside of New York City nightclubs and dance festivals, from July through September of 2015. Hair samples from high-risk nightclub and dance music attendees were tested for 82 drugs and metabolites (including NPS) using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry.

“Hair analysis represents a reliable and well-established means of clinical and forensic investigations to evaluate drug exposure, said Dr. Salomone. “Hair is the most helpful specimen when either long-time retrospective information on drug consumption is of interest.” “Most NPS can no longer be detected in urine, blood, or saliva within hours or days after consumption, but hair is particularly beneficial because many drugs can be detected months after use.”

Of the eighty samples, twenty-six tested positive for at least one NPS—the most common being a “bath salt” (synthetic cathinone) called butylone (present in twenty-five samples). The “bath salts” methylone and even alpha-PVP (a.k.a.: “Flakka”) were also detected. The researchers find the presence of Flakka alarming as this drug has been associated with many episodes of erratic behavior and even death in Florida. Other new drugs detected included new stimulants called 4-FA and 5/6-APB.

“We found that many people in the nightclub and festival scene have been using new drugs and our previous research has found that many of these people have been using unknowingly,” said Dr. Palamar, also an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC).

Hair analysis proved a powerful tool to Drs. Salomone and Palamar and their team, allowing them to gain objective biological drug-prevalence information, free from possible biases of unintentional or unknown intake and untruthful reporting of use.

“Such testing can be used actively or retrospectively to validate survey responses and inform research on consumption patterns,” notes Dr. Palamar.

The full results of the present study can be found in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K01DA038800 (PI: Palamar). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Researcher Affiliations: Alberto Salomone1*, Joseph J. Palamar2,3, Enrico Gerace1, Daniele Di Corcia1 and Marco Vincenti1,4

Centro Regionale Antidoping e di Tossicologia “A. Bertinaria”, Orbassano, Turin, Italy New York University Langone Medical Center, Department of Population Health, Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, New York University College of Nursing New York, NY, USA Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Torino, Turin, Italy

The sample collection in New York was funded by the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR—P30 DA011041). J. Palamar is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (NIDA K01DA-038800).

About CDUHR

The mission of the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR) is to end the HIV and HCV epidemics in drug using populations and their communities by conducting transdisciplinary research and disseminating its findings to inform programmatic, policy, and grass roots initiatives at the local, state, national and global levels. CDUHR is a Core Center of Excellence funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant #P30 DA011041). It is the first center for the socio-behavioral study of substance use and HIV in the United States and is located at the New York University College of Nursing. For more information, visit www.cduhr.org.

About NYU Langone Medical Center

NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated academic medical center, is one of the nation’s premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research, and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals—Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; Rusk Rehabilitation; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, the Medical Center’s dedicated inpatient orthopaedic hospital; and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children’s health services across the Medical Center—plus the NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The Medical Center’s tri-fold mission to serve, teach, and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education, and research. For more information, go to www.NYULMC.org,

About the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing

NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science with a major in Nursing, a Master of Science and Post-Master’s Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in nursing research and theory development.