Driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) is a worldwide problem with potentially major forensic and life-threatening consequences. Although it is obvious that new psychoactive substances (NPS) could lead to impaireddriving, the prevalence of NPS use in a DUID context is unknown as the applied roadside screening tests for drugs of abuse (DOA) are not adapted for NPS detection. This works aims to tested oral fluid (OF) specimens for NPS in French drivers circulating around two music festivals (Artsenik 2017 and Garorock 2017) in order to assess the prevalence of consumption and the kind of used NPS in this particular population. OF samples consisted in dried saliva spots obtained from used Drugwipe-5S® tests (after a positive or negative roadside screening test for DOA). These OF were analyzed using a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry or high-resolution mass spectrometry method. NPS were detected in 17 out of the 229 OF collected specimens (7.4%). Eleven various NPS were identified (number of identification): 5F-AKB48 (2), MAM2201 (1), JWH122 (1), 4F-PVP (1), 3- or 4-MMC (2), fluoromethamphetamine (1), ketamine (3), MXE (3), methoxyketamine (1), 6-APB (2) and 25C-NBOMe (1). There is an apparent effect of the music festival proximity on the prevalence of NPS in OF from this controlled driver population compared to that of 140 controlled drivers from Northern France analyzed in the same period (7.4% versus 3%). The variety of used NPS appears to be increasing (e.g. large proportion of cyclohexanones). In addition, 5% of drivers initially roadside-tested negative for DOA were in fact driving after NPS use in this specific population. From a forensic perspective, these results confirm the reality of driving after NPS use in French drivers, notably in those driving to or from a music festival.
Keywords: Drivers; Forensic oral fluid; LC–HRMS; LC–MS/MS; Music festival; New psychoactive substances.
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