Phenylalkylamine abuse among opiate addicts attending a methadone treatment programme in the Republic of Ireland

Since the early 1990s ring‐substituted derivatives of amphetamine have been abused widely in the Republic of Ireland. The main ring‐substituted amphetamines being abused include methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and methylenedioxyethamphetamine (MDEA). A newer illicit synthetic analogue, which has been seized to a lesser extent by Irish police, is N‐methyl‐1‐(3,4‐methylenedioxyphenyl)‐2‐butanamine (MBDB). The work presented here involved the determination of the type of ring‐substituted amphetamines being abused by a group of recovering opiate abusers participating in a methadone maintenance programme in a Dublin Drug Rehabilitation Centre. Urine samples which tested positive for amphetamines and ring‐substituted amphetamines via EMIT immunoassay were subjected to further analysis using GC‐MS with MBTFA flash derivatization. It was found that the methylenedioxypropanamines were being abused, as was amphetamine itself. However, no abuse of methylenedioxybutanamines or thioamphetamines was observed.