Large‐scale evaluation of ion mobility spectrometry for the rapid detection of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in infused papers in prisons

Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), colloquially known as “spice,” are commonly used in prisons and enter establishments via the mail in the form of infused papers. Many prisons use benchtop Ion Mobility Spectroscopy (IMS) instruments to screen mail and seized materials for the presence of SCRAs and other controlled substances. The selectivity and sensitivity of Rapiscan Itemiser® 3E and Itemiser® 4DN ion trap mobility spectrometerTM (ITMSTM) systems were evaluated using 21 different SCRA reference standards. Some differences in the SCRA reduced mobility (K0) values were observed between this study and those reported previously using IMS detection systems, particularly for cumyl and quinolinyl SCRAs (e.g. 5F‐PB‐22, Cumyl‐4CN‐BINACA, and 5F‐Cumyl‐PEGACLONE) although this was found to have little effect at an operational level. Operational reliability of the systems was evaluated by analyzing 392 paper and card samples with known drug content. ITMSTM system results (e.g. detect or non‐detect) were in agreement with gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis in up to 95% of samples tested. Overall, this study found the ITMSTM systems tested to be effective instruments when deployed for the rapid detection of SCRA infused papers. Used effectively and with up to date substance libraries, they will help reduce the supply of SCRAs into prisons and identify emerging threats as they arise. Several emerging SCRAs (5F‐MPP‐PICA, 5F‐EMB‐PICA, and 4F‐MDMB‐BICA) were detected for the first time in Scottish prisons between May and August 2020 as a result of routine monitoring and all were detected using the ITMSTM systems tested.