Citation

Stansfield CR, Somerville RF, Hassan VR, Kolbe E, Partington HK, Walsh KJ, Johnson CS. Forensic Sci. Int. 2020; 316: e110485.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110485

PMID

32919165

Abstract

Over the past decade, synthetic cannabinoids have inundated the global market and now form the largest category of new psychoactive substances. Once these chemicals are available on the global market, they can be applied to plant material in a clandestine environment to create an end-product that is smoked by the user. The synthetic cannabinoids AMB-FUBINACA and 5F-ADB were most frequently detected between 2017 and the beginning of 2019. More recently, these two appear to have been replaced by different synthetic cannabinoids. This investigation summarises the recent trends in synthetic cannabinoids detected in New Zealand between 2017 and 2020 and outlines the potential factors influencing these trends.

Language: en

Keywords

New Zealand; Legislation; 5F-ADB; AMB-FUBINACA; Drug trends; Synthetic cannabinoid