The use of prodrugs as drugs of abuse
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Forensic Science March 19, 2024 Julio Ponce 6 citations
Prodrugs—molecules modified with a removable chemical group to protect them from metabolism or hydrolysis—are a standard strategy in therapeutic drug design, reducing side effects and improving delivery. The same approach is exploited in the illicit drug market, where controlled substances such as LSD, MDMA, and benzodiazepines have been sold with added alkyl chains that cleave under physiological conditions. Cyclical analogues like 1cP-LSD and GBL (a prodrug of GHB) also appear. Detection requires careful extraction and analytical conditions to avoid forming the parent drug as an artifact, plus thorough knowledge of metabolic pathways. Legislative updates may be needed to control these prodrugs at the same level as the parent drugs.