ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2017
Hair testing to assess both known and unknown use of drugs amongst ecstasy users in the electronic dance music scene.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04155281 (Consumption of New Psychoactive Substances in Intoxicated Patients During the Winter Activities), which is not on this map. Cited by 52 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Consumption of New Psychoactive Substances in Intoxicated Patients During the Winter Activities
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- New Synthetic Cathinones and Phenylethylamine Derivatives Analysis in Hair: A Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Pooled it
- Broad-spectrum LC-MS/MS hair analysis for monitoring recreational drug use in electronic dance music festival attendees.Forensic toxicology · 2026Article
- Recreational Drug Use at a Music Festival: A Dual Approach Using Hair Biomarkers Analysis and Participant Self-Reported Drug Use.Drug testing and analysis · 2026Article
- Emergency Department presentations due to new psychoactive substances (NPS) and other illicit drugs: a clinical and toxicological study on recreational drug toxicity in Italy.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Observational
- Detection of Party Drugs on Mobile Phones in Relation to Self-Reported Use and Oral Fluid Detection Among NYC Nightclub Attendees.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- How do substance and polysubstance use trajectories differ by sexual attraction from ages 17 to 24? A community-based longitudinal cohort study in Switzerland.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Exposures to synthetic cathinones, fentanyl, and xylazine among nightclub attendees in New York City, 2024.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Prevalence and correlates of self-reported new psychoactive substance use among adults in 20 US cities: Results from National Drug Early Warning System surveillance.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Substance use assessment: comparing self-reports with objective data in a research setting.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Increases in the use of drug testing kits among nightclub and festival attendees in New York City who use ecstasy, 2017-2022.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Article
- Synthetic Cathinones: Epidemiology, Toxicity, Potential for Abuse, and Current Public Health Perspective.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Willingness to provide a hair sample for drug testing: results from an anonymous multi-city intercept survey.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Article
- Five cases of unintentional exposure to BZO-4en-POXIZID among nightclub attendees in New York City.Journal of analytical toxicology · 2024Article
- Trends in reported and biologically confirmed drug use among people who use ecstasy in the nightclub/festival-attending population, 2016-2022.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- Tusi: a new ketamine concoction complicating the drug landscape.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2023Article
- Trends and correlates of discordant reporting of drug use among nightclub/festival attendees, 2019-2022.Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2023Article
- Locomotor and discriminative stimulus effects of three benzofuran compounds in comparison to abused psychostimulants.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- Impact of fluoxetine preexposure on MDMA-induced taste avoidance in male and female rats.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- On the challenges of hair testing to detect underreported substance use in research settings.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2023Article
- Pharmacological effects of methylone and MDMA in humans.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundData on both known and unknown drug use in the electronic dance music (EDM) scene is important to inform prevention and harm reduction. While surveys are the most common method of querying drug use, additional biological data can help validate use and detect unknown/unintentional use of drugs such as new psychoactive substances (NPS). We sought to determine the extent of both known and unknown use of various substances in this high-risk scene.
methodsWe hair-tested 90 self-reported past-year ecstasy/MDMA/Molly users attending EDM parties in New York City during the summer of 2016 using UHPLC-MS/MS. Results were compared to self-reported past-year use.
resultsThree quarters (74.4%) tested positive for MDMA, a third (33.3%) tested positive for an NPS, and 27.8% tested positive specifically for one or more synthetic cathinones (e.g., butylone, ethylone, pentylone, methylone, alpha-PVP). Half (51.1%) of participants tested positive for a drug not self-reported, with most testing positive for synthetic cathinones (72.0%), methamphetamine (69.0%), other NPS stimulants (e.g., 4-FA, 5/6-APB; 66.7%), or new dissociatives (e.g., methoxetamine, diphenidine; 60.0%). Attending parties every other week or more often, reporting higher-frequency ecstasy pill use, having tested one's ecstasy, and having found out one's ecstasy was adulterated, were risk factors for testing positive for synthetic cathinones and NPS in general.
conclusionHair testing appears to be a valuable addition to drug epidemiology studies. Many EDM party attendees-even those who test their ecstasy-are unknowingly using NPS and/or other drugs. Prevention information and harm reduction may help reduce unknown/unintentional use.
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Registered trials
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