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Street Drugs and the Forensic Toxicologist (From Instrumental Applications in Forensic Drug Chemistry - Proceedings, P 214-221, Michael Klein et al, ed. - See NCJ-90454)

NCJ Number
90458
Author(s)
J Wells; G Cimbura
Date Published
Unknown
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the use of gas chromatography (GC) for screening blood and urine for the identification of the consumption of basic and neutral drugs.
Abstract
The GC screening of blood and urine for drugs has been used by the authors and others for a number of years. The differences in the methods used revolve around the extraction procedures and the type of GC liquid phases used. Using such procedures, many drugs are detectable at 0.1 mg/100 ml, a level that is adequate for many overdose situations but inadequate to detect therapeutic levels of some of the common drugs. Flame ionization detectors have generally been used in these procedures, although electron capture detectors have found some application. The introduction of stable nitrogen phosphorus detectors marks a major advance in GC screening. This allows screening for many of the common street drugs. There are a few street drugs that require special attention, in that the usual analytical techniques available to the toxicologist are either inadequate or too cumbersome to be of much value. LSD, cocaine, and marijuana are examples of such drugs. For a number of years, the authors have used a commercially available radioimmunoassay method for the analysis of LSD in urine and blood and found it adequate as far as sensitivity is concerned. By using a preparative thin-layer chromatography (TLC) clean-up procedure of the urine extract, the specificity of the technique is increased. The use of preparative high pressure liquid chromatography is a distinct improvement over TLC and has been used in the detection of LSD in urine. Procedures for detecting cocaine and cannabinoids in urine and blood are also described. Photographic and graphic illustrations are provided along with 14 references.