Fabrizio Seganti

Centro Regionale Antidoping “A. Bertinaria” | Turin (I)

Lecture:
NPS identification by portable Raman instrument during on-field drug checking

Instruments based Raman spectroscopy can be used for a fast and inexpensive analysis of alleged drugs, allowing a simple and safe handling and a reliable detection of substances. Furthermore, portable instruments have been recently introduced in the market making this technique ideal for on-site analysis.
In particular, portable Raman instrumentation present several advantages: i) specificity, thanks to a reliable identification based on substance-specific Raman bands; ii) partial measurement of mixtures; iii) expandable library; iv) result displayed on the instrument itself avoiding a wired lap-top, v) non-destructive and non-invasive analysis. The analysis happens through water, glass, plastic bags so the operator avoids direct contact with the substance.
In this presentation, the efficiency of portable Raman instrumentation in the analysis of more than 300 alleged drugs, tested during 21 night events within the first formal implementation of drug checking in Italy, will be discussed. The hazard caused by the unaware intake of drugs will be highlighted.
Drug checking by Raman spectroscopy proved effective in the identification of several NPS and drug distribution present in various recreational settings at different times. Some limitations may be the low sensitivity and may arise with substances contained in complex biological materials, such as marijuana, opium and ayahuasca.