Problems of Forensic Sciences 2007 Vol. 71 (LXXI) 323-333
MEDICINES CONTAINING EPHEDRINE AND PSEUDOEPHEDRINE AS A SOURCE OF METHCATHINONE
Dariusz ZUBA
Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow, Poland
Streszczenie
The aim of the studies presented in the paper was to assess whether it is possible to produce (and how efficiently) methcathinone – a controlled psychotropic substance – from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, active substances of many therapeutic preparations. For this purpose, on the basis of information presented on webpages and discussion forums, as well as advice from Monar – a non-governmental organisation that helps people addicted to drugs – procedures of simple processing of ephedrine present in Tussipect and pseudoephedrine present in Sudafed to methcathinone were developed. They assumed the use of generally available chemicals (potassium permanganate, spirit vinegar) or articles (syringe, mortar, glass, etc.). The substrates and the products of the reactions were analysed by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) on an HP-5MS column, as well as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a Chromolith RP-18e monolithic column. The presence of a dozen chemical substances, including methcathinone, was detected in the reaction mixtures. The mean amount of methcathinone prepared from 6 tablets of Sudafed, each containing 60 mg of pseudoephedrine, was 88.2 ± 1.8 mg, whereas from 10 tablets of Tussipect, each containing 15 mg of ephedrine: 19.1 ± 6.5 mg. The obtained amounts constitute from one to even several acting doses of this psychotropic substance. The possibility that other psychoactive compounds also occurred among the formed substances cannot be excluded. The performed studies indicated that it is possible to effectively process ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to methcathinone using simple methods in "home laboratories", and therefore tightening of control over therapeutic preparations containing these substances should be considered.
Słowa kluczowe
Ephedrine; Pseudoephedrine; Methcathinone; Processing.