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Clonazepam (CLON) is not only frequently prescribed in addiction management but is also commonly abused. Therefore many addiction clinics perform oral fluid (OF) testing, which unlike urine is not subject to adulteration, to monitor CLON compliance. However, CLON and other benzodiazepines can be challenging to detect in OF due to their weakly acidic nature and their presence in low concentrations. We determined the optimal technical and clinical approach for the detection of CLON use using OF.

We measured CLON and its primary metabolite 7-aminoclonazepam (7AC) by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry in OF specimens over a 2 month period. The samples were collected using the Orasure Intercept OF sample collection device.

One hundred samples were presumptive-positive for 7AC and/or CLON. 91 (91.0%) confirmed positive for 7AC (median, range: 4.2 …