• Priyamvada Sharma, Vijayashree Rao, Prabhat Kumar Chand, and Pratima Murthy.
• Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology & Neurotoxicology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
• Indian J Med Res. 2023 Nov 1; 158 (5&6): 535541535-541.

Background ObjectivesCannabis use has long been associated with celebration and hospitality, although abuse must be confirmed through testing. It has always been difficult to develop an accurate and reliable confirmatory method for the quantification of tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) that meets local requirements. The goal was to develop a rapid, cost-effective analytical technique that can handle large batches.MethodsBecause of the wide metabolite detection window and ease of collection, urine was preferable sample. The extraction of a pre-screened urine sample (adulteration and multidrug screening) was done on Bond Elut cartridges using a positive pressure vacuum manifold, followed by quantification using a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer.ResultsThe assay was linear between 15 and 300 ng/ml ( r2 of 0.99). The intra-day precision was 8.69 per cent and the inter-day precision was 10.78 per cent, respectively with a 97.5 per cent recovery rate for the lowest concentration. A total of 939 urine samples were examined, with 213 detecting cannabis. Sixty per cent of the total individuals tested positive for simply cannabinoids, 33 per cent for cannabinoids and sedatives, five per cent for cannabinoids and morphine and one for cannabis, morphine and cocaine.Interpretation ConclusionsAssay characteristics included modest sample preparation, rapid chromatography, high specificity and small sample volume with a processing time of 12 h. The assay described here can be applied for diagnostic laboratories and in forensic settings as well.Copyright © 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Indian Journal of Medical Research.

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