Impurity profiling of methylamphetamine in Australia and the development of a national drugs database

A technique for impurity profiling methylamphetamine hydrochloride to determine the method of manufacture based on the three most common synthetic routes encountered in Australia is described. This technique can also be used to group together products processed from the same batch (batch origin). The impurity profiling utilizes capillary column gas chromatography and the resultant profiles are compared and statistically analysed. A total of 224 impurity profiles of methylamphetamine hydrochloride seized by police over 2 years have been processed and the analysis of the results are presented. The development and progress of a National drugs database to retrieve data on similar illicit products seized throughout Australia is reported.