Alerta de abril 2019: Actualización sobre muestras adulteradas de ALPRAZOLAM
Fuente: https://energycontrol-international.org/alert-update-on-adulterated-samples-of-alprazolam/
1.- Evolution of purity and adulteration in alprazolam samples :
Samples submitted as benzodiazepines to our IDCS are uncommon (2.4% of the total substances tested between 2014-2018). Alprazolam is the most frequent: 79.61% of the 222 samples received in this 4 year period, were submitted as “alprazolam”.
From 2016-2018 we received 153 samples that allegedly contained alprazolam. Country of origin is summarized in Table 1.
TABLE 1: Origin of samples submitted for Drug Checking as Alprazolam
| Country | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| United States | 13 | 25 | 24 |
| Canada | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| Europe | 9 | 14 | 16 |
| China | 5 | 11 | 2 |
| Australia | 0 | 2 | 2 |
From 2016-2017, 96 samples contained alprazolam as the only active ingredient: 16 pills and 80 powder samples with an average purity of 85.2 +-6.1% . 4 samples contained other benzodiazepines (diazepam, adinazolam, diclazepam, etizolam (n:1) ) and 3 samples contained other substances (fentanyl, ciclopropylfentanyl, N-Ethyl-Hexedrone (n:1).
Overall, our results indicated high purities and low adulteration rates during 2016 and 2017.
But, at least in samples submitted to our IDCS during 2018 (n:50), this trend has changed abruptly. Samples containing alprazolam decreased to 62% , as shown in Fig 3.
Table 2 shows a detailed list of substances detected during 2018.
TABLE 2: Substances detected in samples submitted as Alprazolam (2018)
| Substances | Samples |
| Alprazolam | 31 |
| Antihistamine mixture | 3 |
| Etizolam | 3 |
| Diclazepam | 2 |
| Flualprazolam | 2 |
| Flubromazolam | 2 |
| 4-Chloroethcathinone | 2 |
| Clonazepam | 1 |
| Atomoxetine | 1 |
| Diphenhydramine | 1 |
| U-47700 | 1 |
| Unknown Substance | 1 |
The frequency of adulteration in alprazolam samples shows an increasing trend during the second half of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, as shown in Figure 4.
Autor: energy control