Background: Heroin and cocaine are among the most dangerous illicit drugs available and their presence on the market is increasing. These facts have led to the investigation of the quality of heroin and cocaine samples seized in Luxembourg by police and customs but also collected at the national supervised drug consumption facilities. Methods: Samples obtained from 2019 to 2020 were analyzed to determine their composition and content using GC–MS, HPLC-UV and LC-Q-ToF. The statistical evaluation of concentration changes depending on the source of collection is based on an ANOVA single factor test and a two-tailed t test. Results: Results showed important differences between seizure and collection sources. For both drugs, customs samples had significantly higher concentrations than police samples and the latter had significantly higher concentrations than samples from drug consumption facilities, whereas for heroin two cutting steps were identified, for cocaine samples only one appears to occur on the local market. Indeed, cocaine samples seized by police consisted of a mixture of low and high concentration samples. Conclusion: The results show that extensive adulteration with pharmacological active and inactive compounds takes place at local levels, which, however, are different for heroin and cocaine. This knowledge on variability of quality of drugs should be considered in the elaboration of drug and harm prevention strategies.

In recent years, cannabis and hemp-based products have become increasingly popular for recreational use, edibles, beverages, health care products, and medicines. The rapid detection and differentiation of phytocannabinoids is, therefore, essential to assess the potency and the therapeutic and nutritional values of cannabis cultivars. Here, we implemented SpiderMass technology for in vivo detection of cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinolicacid (∆⁹-THCA), and other endogenous organic plant compounds, to access distribution gradients within the plants and differentiate between cultivars. The SpiderMass system is composed of an IR-laser handheld microsampling probe connected to a mass spectrometer through a transfer tube. The analysis was performed on different plant organs from freshly cultivated cannabis plants in only a few seconds. SpiderMass analysis easily discriminated the two acid phytocannabinoid isomers via MS/MS, and the built statistical models differentiated between four cannabis cultivars. Different abundancies of the two acid phytocannabinoids were found along the plant as well as between different cultivars. Overall, these results introduce direct analysis by SpiderMass as a compelling analytical alternative for rapid hemp analysis.

In the recent years, Cannabis and hemp-based products have become increasingly popular for various applications ranging from recreational use, edibles, beverages to health care products and medicines. The rapid detection and differentiation of phytocannabinoids is, therefore, essential to assess the potency, therapeutic and nutritional values of cannabis cultivars. Here, we implemented the SpiderMass technology for the in vivo detection of cannabidiol acid (CBDA) and tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA) and other endogenous organic plant compounds to access distribution gradients within the plants and differentiate cultivars. The SpiderMass system is composed of an IR- laser handheld microsampling probe connected to the mass spectrometer through a transfer tube. The analysis was performed in situ on different plant organs from freshly cultivated Cannabis plants in only a few seconds. SpiderMass analysis easily discriminated the two acid phytocannabinoid isomers by MS/MS and the built statistical models differentiated between four Cannabis cultivars. Different abundancies of acid phytocannabinoids were also found along the plant as well as between different cultivars. All together, these results introduce the direct analysis by SpiderMass as a compelling analytical alternative for forensic and hemp industrial analysis.

Pharmaceutical as well as illicit drugs are massively consumed worldwide and many studies have established that their release, respectively the release of their metabolites, into the environment may have considerable negative effects on the wildlife and general ecosystems functioning. This study deals with the detection and the determination of contamination levels of some commonly used pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in surface water and in the two freshwater invertebrates Gammarus pulex and Asellus aquaticus collected in Luxembourg. A method, based on liquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole time-of flight mass spectrometer (LC-QToF-MS), was developed to investigate eight compounds (alprazolam, bisoprolol, carbamazepine, citalopram, lidocaine, O-desmethyltramadol, MDMA and benzoylecgonine, the major cocaine metabolite). Except for alprazolam all compounds were detected at least once in the surface water. Three of these compounds were detected in biota samples with concentrations ranging from < LOQ to 6.3 ng/g of dry weight. The bioaccumulation (BAF) factors were calculated for two compounds. The results draw attention to the importance of monitoring drugs in freshwater biota to better assess the effects of drugs on non-target organisms.