Development of a high-resolution paper-spray mass spectrometry method using street drugs for the early detection of emerging drugs in the unregulated supply

Adulteration of the unregulated opioid supply has contributed to increasing numbers of overdose deaths in North America. Harm-reduction drug checking has emerged as a strategy to address increasing adulteration rates by providing information about sample composition to people who use drugs. While paper-spray mass spectrometry is capable of trace detection for drug checking, the presence of newly emerging substances often goes undetected if not included in the targeted analysis method. High-resolution mass spectrometry has not been widely used in drug-checking efforts to date, but it has advanced capabilities to facilitate the detection of newly emerging substances. We present a high-resolution paper-spray mass spectrometry method developed for the detection of newly emerging compounds in the street-drug supply. The method was used to analyze a selection of opioid samples received at a drug-checking service in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Using this approach, newly emerging adulterants, precursors and byproducts were identified in the local street-drug supply.