A pyrolysis product, anhydroecgonine methyl ester (methylecgonidine), is in the urine of cocaine smokers

Abstract

A method uslng combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for determination of the cocaine pyrolysis product anhydroecgonine methyl ester (AEME) in urine is described. Ustng this method, we found that human subjects who smoked coca|ne under laboratory conditions excreted substantial amounts of AEME in thelr urine. Little, if any, AEME was excreted in the urine when the same subjects were admlnistered coca ine by intravenous and Jntranasal routes. AEME may b~~a useful marker for coca]ne (crack) smoking. The pharmac~logy of AEME is unknown. The possibility that AEME may play a role in the effects associated with cocaine smoking needs to be examined. lnt roduct ion Abuse of "crack, " a free-base cocaine that is smoked by con-verting it to an aerosol and inhaling it from a heated pipe, o