Ketamine in DUID cases in the greater Cologne area.

Introduction: Ketamine is primarily used as an anaesthetic or for analgesics in medical treatment, but due to its dissociative and hallucinogenic effects, abuse has increased in the past years leading to several drug impaired driving cases.

Methods: Eight DUID (driving under the influence of drugs) cases involving ketamine from two institutes of legal medicine over a period from January 2021 to January 2023 were evaluated. The cases were compared with regard to psychomotor impairments, adverse effects on driving performance and co-consumption of drugs.

Be aware of (R)-methamphetamine: Negative immunoassay versus positive confirmation analysis.

The amphetamine-type stimulant methamphetamine exists in two enantiomeric forms, (S)-methamphetamine and (R)-methamphetamine, which are both psychoactive but with the (S)-enantiomer being more potent than the (R)-enantiomer. Illicit methamphetamine encountered in Europe is typically a racemic mixture of both enantiomers and enantiopure (S)-methamphetamine, respectively. However, herein we report two cases with proven enantiopure (R)-methamphetamine consumption with moreover both cases remaining undetected by immunoassay screening.