Oral Fluid with Synthetic Cannabinoids

Because of their reported cannabis-like effects, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control five chemicals: JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47497, and cannabicyclohexanol (CP-47497 C8), also known as “Spice,” “K2,” or “synthetic cannabinoids.”
JWH-250 is a frequent contaminant, and HU-210 was already under control, thus they were included in the study.
We present the first analytical approach for determining these chemicals simultaneously in oral fluid samples collected with the QuantisalTM device utilizing solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometer.
The procedure was validated and tested on samples from two people who bought synthetic substances while they were still legal in the United States.
The peak concentration of JWH-018 found 20 minutes after smoking “Blueberry Posh” was 35 g/L, and JWH-018 was remained detectable 12 hours after a single consumption.
JWH-018 was discovered 20 minutes after a single session of smoking “Black Mamba,” with a peak concentration of 5 g/L.
After 12 hours, the chemical was undetectable in this patient.