NIDA Humphrey Fellow Publishes Method To Detect New “Bath Salts”

Former NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow Jezelle Charles, M.S., Trinidad and Tobago, and her mentors at Virginia Commonwealth University have published an article in Biomedical Chromatography describing methods to identify and quantify one form of the synthetic psychoactive substance known as “bath salts.” The authors developed the assay in response to 2012 reports of N-benzyl-phenethylamine derivative abuse and overdose, and report that the assay is particularly well suited for use in emergency department settings. The article was published early online (doi: 10.1002/bmc.2999).