Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41117773›Full record

ArticleJournal of analytical toxicology2026

Rapid LC-QTOF-MS screening method for semi-synthetic cannabinoids in whole blood.

Willi Schirmer, Sara E Walton, Wolfgang Weinmann, Stefan Schürch, Barry K Logan, Alex J Krotulski

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of analytical toxicology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Willi SchirmerInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Forensic Toxicology and Chemistry, University of Bern, Bern 3008, Switzerland.ORCID 0009-0004-5579-2217
Sara E WaltonCenter for Forensic Science Research and Education, Fredric Rieders Family Foundation, Horsham, PA 19044, United States.ORCID 0009-0003-4461-5293
Wolfgang WeinmannInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Forensic Toxicology and Chemistry, University of Bern, Bern 3008, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-8659-1304
Stefan SchürchDepartment of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-5109-4623
Barry K LoganCenter for Forensic Science Research and Education, Fredric Rieders Family Foundation, Horsham, PA 19044, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-2400-4711
Alex J KrotulskiCenter for Forensic Science Research and Education, Fredric Rieders Family Foundation, Horsham, PA 19044, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-1775-1882

Funding

Drug Materials and Toxicology Populations in the United StatesForensic Research and Education (CFSRE)National Institute of JusticeThe University of BernUniBE Short TravelU.S. Department of Justice 15PNIJ-22-GG-04434-MUMU
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Semi-synthetic cannabinoids are a class of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) with structural similarities to the main psychoactive phytocannabinoid Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) found in Cannabis sativa L. The first semi-synthetic cannabinoids, which were used as legal substitutes for marijuana, were Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8-THC) and hexahydrocannabinol (HHC). Δ8-THC emerged around 2019 on the recreational drug market in the United States after it became legal due to an ambiguity in the Agricultural Improvement Act 2018 (Farm Bill 2018). It was never legal outside the United States as the isomers of THC are regulated in the United Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs from 1971. HHC, a hydrogenated derivative of THC, followed as a legal substitute on the European recreational drug market. Many countries already placed HHC in their narcotic substance law, which led to the emergence of other structurally related derivatives of THC. An existing rapid screening method for the qualitative analysis of various new psychoactive substances was expanded for semi-synthetic cannabinoids in whole blood using a LC-QTOF-MS system. This method was validated for 24 different phytocannabinoids and semi-synthetic cannabinoids in blood. Recovery rates of the analytes from a liquid-liquid-extraction ranged from 87% to 118%, matrix effects ranged from 24% to 93%, and limits of detection (LOD) ranged from 0.8 to 16 ng/mL.

Indexed as

CannabinoidsIllicit DrugsSubstance Abuse DetectionChromatography, LiquidHumansLimit of DetectionMass SpectrometryTandem Mass SpectrometryCannabinoidsIllicit Drugs

Identifiers

PMID41117773
PMCPMC13102481

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.