Recognition of illicit date rape drugs: a luminescence sensing perspective

Abstract

The consumption of recreational and addictive substances has rapidly increased owing to the legalisation of cannabinoids and the emergence of new potent synthetic psychoactive substances such as stimulants, depressants, and opioids. Moreover, due to lucrative financial aspects, the cooperation between international organised criminal syndicates has led to a surge in the worldwide distribution of narcotics. The use of darknet, encrypted software, and untraceable communication has also complicated the detection and confiscation of the drugs. Although the major attention of the law enforcement has been directed towards addictive substances, the non-lethal party drugs or illicit date rape drugs have gradually emerged, which could induce long-term psychological and physical trauma on the victim. Several heavy instrument-based and portable devices are now commercially available for their detection, which rely on various spectroscopic and spectrometric principles. The use of luminescent molecules in this regard proves beneficial due to their portability, sensitivity, selectivity, and, most importantly, sensing capacity even in clandestine environments. Although several literature reports are available on the sensing of illicit narcotics encompassing all types of psychoactive drugs, such as opioids, cathinones, cannabinoids, and synthetics, a comprehensive exploration of illicit date rape drugs remains elusive. Therefore, in this perspective, an attempt is made to comprehensively evaluate all types of luminescent sensors, which are reported for the detection of illicit date rape drugs, including GHB, benzodiazepines and ketamine.