AMB-FUBINACA (also known as FUB-AMB and MMB-FUBINACA) is an indazole-based synthetic cannabinoid that is a potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors, and has been sold online as a designer drug. It was originally developed by Pfizer which described the compound in a patent in 2009, but was later abandoned and never tested on humans.
AMB-FUBINACA was the most common synthetic cannabinoid identified in drug seizures by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2017 and the first half of 2018.
On July 12, 2016 the New York City Emergency Medical Services responded to a “mass casualty event” in Brooklyn, New York, where 33 people ranging in age from 25 to 59 years old were adversely affected by the drug. 18 were hospitalized. All of the victims were described by by-standers as “zombielike” and the cause was attributed to use of AMB-FUBINACA as the demethylated metabolite was found in the blood and urine of eight of the hospitalized patients that had been sent for testing by the DEA.
In the United States, AMB-FUBINACA is a Schedule I Controlled Substance. Prior to being scheduled at the federal level, the state of Louisiana banned AMB-FUBINACA through an emergency rule after it was detected in a synthetic cannabis product called “Train Wreck 2” which had been linked to adverse events and seizures on 3 June 2014.