Mefredone and Fentanyl, the new drugs discovered in the sewers of Cagliari

"The lowest mass loading for both compounds was found in Trani and the highest in Cagliari." We talk about Fentanyl and its metabolite Norfentanyl. And the "mass load" is the quantity found in one day compared to a thousand inhabitants . The most important city in Sardinia is the one that, out of 19 nationwide, recorded the highest figure. The new psychoactive substances, or drugs, have been discovered in the sewers of the capital.

The analysis was conducted by the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research and the results of the study entitled "National investigation into the use of new psychoactive substances in Italy through the analysis of urban wastewater", which bears the first signature of Noelia Salgueiro -González, were recently published in the scientific journal “Science of the Total Environment”.

The withdrawals, we read, were made at the mouth of the purifiers at the end of 2020 in 19 large cities and 14 smaller ones. For Sardinia there are Cagliari and Nuoro.

The analysis of waste water is considered useful for determining the consumption of any type of substance: the results are used to monitor the diffusion of drugs, if accompanied by those of seizures and others related to statistical surveys.

«The results highlighted the use of ten new psychotropic substances», we read, «mainly synthetic cathinones and tryptamines, throughout Italy. Methcathinone has been found in all cities.' The latter is also known as "Jeff", "Catnip" or "Intash": it has psychoactive and stimulating effects. It is not excluded that it can also be used as a substance to "cut" cocaine.

Cagliari, in the graphs (third position), also stands out for the use of another substance: mefredone. Its effects, we read in specialized magazines, "suppress the sense of tiredness and appetite, increase the need to move and physical performance, generate states of euphoria and great talkativeness, cause disinhibition and states of inner agitation and hyperactivity".

That too, like so much else, ends up in the sewers.