Transcript DRUGS

Chapter 5
DRUGS
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
5-1
Introduction
• A drug can be defined as a natural or synthetic
substance that is used to produce physiological
or psychological effects in humans or other
higher order animals.
• Narcotic drugs are analgesics, meaning they
relieve pain by a depressing action on the
central nervous system. This effects functions
such as blood pressure, pulse rate and
breathing rate.
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By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
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Introduction
• The regular use of a narcotic drug will
invariably lead to physical dependence.
• The most common source for these narcotic
drugs is opium, extracted from poppies.
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Opiates
• Morphine is readily extracted from opium
and is used to synthesize heroin.
• Addicts frequently dissolve heroin in water by
heating it in a spoon, and then inject in the
skin.
• Heroin produces a “high” that is accompanied
by drowsiness and a sense of well-being that
generally last for three to four hours.
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©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Opiates - Heroin
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Opiates
• Codeine is also present in opium, but it is
usually prepared synthetically from morphine.
• OxyContin, with the active ingredient
oxycodone, is not derived from opium or
morphine, but does have the same physiological
effects on the body as do opium narcotics.
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Other Opiates
• OxyContin is prescribed to a million patients
for treatment of chronic pain.
• Methadone is another well-known synthetic
opiate.
• Methadone, which is pharmacologically related
to heroin, appears to eliminate the addict’s
desire for heroin while producing minimal side
effects.
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By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
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Hallucinogens
• Another class of drugs is hallucinogens;
marijuana is the most well-known member of
this class.
• Hallucinogens cause marked changes in normal
thought processes, perceptions, and moods.
• Marijuana is the most controversial drug in
this class because its long-term effects on health
are still largely unknown.
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By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
5-8
Marijuana
• Marijuana refers to a preparation derived
from the plant Cannabis.
• The chemical substance largely responsible for
the hallucinogenic properties of marijuana is
known as tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
• The THC content of Cannabis varies in
different parts of the plant, generally
decreasing in the following sequence: resin,
flowers, leaves, with little THC in the stem,
roots or seeds.
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By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
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Marijuana
• The THC-rich Marijuana does not cause
physical dependency, but the risk of harm is in
heavy, long-term use. Lung cancer and
psychological dependence is a real threat.
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By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
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Other Hallucinogens
• Other hallucinogens include LSD, mescaline,
PCP, psilocybin, and MDMA (Ecstasy).
• LSD is synthesized from lysergic acid, and can
cause hallucinations that can last for 12 hours.
• Phencyclidine, or PCP, is often synthesized in
clandestine laboratories and is often smoked,
ingested, sniffed.
LSD
PCP
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Other Hallucinogens
• Phencyclidine is often mixed with other drugs,
such as LSD, or amphetamine, and is sold as a
powder (“angel dust”), capsule, or tablet.
• Oral intake of PCP first leads to feelings of
strength and invulnerability, which may turn
to depression, tendencies toward violence, and
suicide.
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Depressants
• Depressants are another class of drugs.
• Depressants are substances used to depress the
functions of the central nervous system.
• Depressants calm irritability and anxiety and
may induce sleep.
dextromethorphan
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Depressants
• These include alcohol (ethanol), barbiturates,
tranquilizers, and various substances that can
be sniffed, such as airplane glue, model cement,
or aerosol gas propellants such as freon.
• Alcohol (ethyl alcohol) enters the body’s
bloodstream and quickly travels to the brain,
where it acts to suppress the brain’s control of
thought processes and muscle coordination.
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Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Depressants
• Barbiturates, or “downers,” are normally taken
orally and create a feeling of well-being, relax the
body, and produce sleep.
• Tranquilizers, unlike barbiturates, produce a
relaxing tranquility without impairment of highthinking faculties or inducing sleep.
• Sniffing has immediate effects such as exhilaration,
but impairs judgment and may cause liver, heart,
and brain damage, or even death.
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Stimulants
• The drug classification of stimulants includes
amphetamines, sometimes known as “uppers”
or “speed,” and cocaine, which in its free-base
form is known as crack.
• Stimulants are substances taken to increase
alertness or activity, followed by a decrease in
fatigue and a loss of appetite.
Cocaine
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Stimulants
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Stimulants
• Amphetamine and methamphetamine, often
injected intravenously, cause an initial “rush,”
followed by an intense feeling of pleasure.
• This is followed by a period of exhaustion and a
prolonged period of depression.
• Cocaine, extracted from the leaves of Erythroxylin
coca, causes increased alertness and vigor,
accompanied by the suppression of hunger, fatigue,
and boredom.
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Cocaine
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Stimulants
• Crack is cocaine mixed with baking soda and
water, then heated.
• Crack is often smoked in glass pipes, and like
cocaine stimulates the brain’s pleasure center.
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Club Drugs
• The term club drugs refers to synthetic drugs
that are used at nightclubs, bars, and raves (allnight dance parties).
• Substances that are often used as club drugs
include, but are not limited to, MDMA
(Ecstasy), GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate),
Rohypnol (“Roofies”), ketamine, and
methamphetamine.
• GHB and Rohypnol are central nervous system
depressants that are often connected with drugfacilitated sexual assault, rape, and robbery.
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Club Drugs
• Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known
as MDMA or Ecstasy, is a synthetic mindaltering drug that exhibits many hallucinogenic
and amphetamine-like effects.
• Ecstasy enhances self-awareness and decreases
inhibitions, however, seizures, muscle
breakdown, stroke, kidney failure, and
cardiovascular system failure often accompany
chronic abuse.
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Club Drugs
• Ketamine is primarily used as a veterinary
animal anesthetic that in humans causes
euphoria and hallucinations.
• Ketamine can also cause impaired motor
functions, high blood pressure, amnesia, and
mild respiratory depression.
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Anabolic Steroids
• Yet another category of drugs is the anabolic
steroids.
• These are synthetic compounds that are
chemically related to the male sex hormone
testosterone.
• Anabolic steroids are often abused by
individuals who are interested in accelerating
muscle growth.
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Anabolic Steroids
• Side effects include unpredictable effects on
mood and personality, depression, diminished
sex drive, halting bone growth, and liver
cancer.
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Drug-Control Laws
• The U.S. federal law known as the Controlled
Substances Act will serve to illustrate a legal
drug-classification system created to prevent
and control drug abuse.
• This federal law establishes five schedules of
classification for controlled dangerous
substances on the basis of a drug’s
– potential for abuse
– potential for physical and psychological dependence
– medical value
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By Richard Saferstein
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Schedules of Classification
• Schedule I drugs have a high potential for
abuse and have no currently accepted medical
use such as heroin, marijuana, methaqualone,
K2 and LSD.
• Schedule II drugs have a high potential for
abuse and have medical use with severe
restrictions such as cocaine, PCP, and most
amphetamine and barbiturate prescriptions.
This includes most ADHD medications.
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Schedules of Classification
• Schedule III drugs have less potential for abuse
and a currently accepted medical use such as
all barbiturate prescriptions not covered under
Schedule II, such as codeine and anabolic
steroids.
• Schedule IV drugs have a low potential for
abuse and have a current medical use such as
darvon, phenobarbital, and some tranquilizers
such as diazepam (valium) and
chlordiazepoxide (librium).
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Schedules of Classification
• Schedule V drugs must show low abuse potential
and have medical use such as opiate drug mixtures
that contain nonnarcotic medicinal ingredients.
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Toxicology
Toxicology—the study of the adverse effects of
chemicals or physical agents on living
organisms
Types:
Environmental—air, water, soil
Consumer—foods, cosmetics, drugs
Medical, clinical, forensic
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Postmortem—medical
examiner
or coroner
Criminal—motor vehicle
accidents (MVA)
Workplace—drug testing
Sports—human and animal
Environment—industrial,
catastrophic, terrorism
31
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Toxic substances
may:
Be a cause of
death
Contribute to
death
Cause impairment
Explain behavior
32
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Aspects of Toxicity
Dosage
The chemical or physical form of the substance
The mode of entry into the body
Body weight and physiological conditions of the
victim, including age and sex
The time period of exposure
The presence of other chemicals in the body or in the
dose
33
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Lethal Dose
LD50 refers to the dose of a substance
that kills half the test population,
usually within four hours
Expressed in milligrams of substance
per kilogram of body weight
34
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Toxicity Classification
LD50 (rat,oral)
Correlation to Ingestion
by 150-lb Adult Human
Toxicity
<1 mg/kg
a taste to a drop
extreme
1–50 mg/kg
to a teaspoon
high
50–500 mg/kg
to an ounce
moderate
500–5,000 mg/kg
to a pint
slight
5–15 g/kg
to a quart
practically nontoxic
Over 15 g/kg
more than 1 quart
relatively harmless
35
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Symptoms of Various Types of Poisoning
Type of Poison
Caustic poison (lye)
Carbon monoxide
Symptom/Evidence
Characteristic burns around the lips and
mouth of victim
Red or pink patches on the chest and
thigh, unusually bright red lividity
Black vomit
Greenish-brown vomit
Yellow vomit
Coffee-brown vomit, onion or garlic odor
Burnt almond odor
Extreme diarrhea
Nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness
possibly blindness
Sulfuric acid
Hydrochloric acid
Nitric acid
Phosphorus
Cyanide
Arsenic, mercury
Methyl (wood) or isopropyl
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To Prove a Case
Prove a crime was committed
Motive
Intent
Access to poison
Access to victim
Death was homicidal
Death was caused by poison
37
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Most abused drug in America
About 40 percent of all traffic deaths are alcohol-related
Toxic—affecting the central nervous system, especially
the brain
Colorless liquid, generally diluted in water
Acts as a depressant
Alcohol appears in blood within minutes of consumption;
30–90 minutes for full absorption
Detoxification—about 90 percent in the liver
About 5 percent is excreted unchanged in breath,
perspiration, and urine
38
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• A major branch of
forensic toxicology
deals with the
measurement of
alcohol in the body for
matters that pertain to
violations of criminal
law.
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Rate of Absorption
Depends on:
Amount of alcohol consumed
The alcohol content of
the beverage
Time taken to consume it
Quantity and type of food
present in the stomach
Physiology of the consumer
40
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Toxicology of Alcohol
• The analysis of alcohol exemplifies the primary
objective of forensic toxicology—the detection
and isolation of drugs in the body for the purpose
of determining their influence on human behavior.
• Alcohol, or ethyl alcohol, is a colorless liquid
normally diluted with water and consumed as a
beverage.
• Like any depressant, alcohol principally effects the
central nervous system, particularly the brain.
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Alcohol & Circulatory System
• Humans have a closed circulatory system consisting
of a heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries.
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Alcohol & Circulatory System
• Alcohol is absorbed from the stomach and small
intestines into the blood stream.
• Alcohol is carried to the liver where the process
of its destruction starts.
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Alcohol & Circulatory System
• Blood, carrying alcohol, moves to the heart and is
pumped to the lungs.
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Alcohol & Circulatory System
• In the lungs, carbon dioxide and alcohol leave the
blood and oxygen enters the blood in the air sacs
known as alveoli.
• Then the carbon dioxide and alcohol are exhaled
during breathing.
• This is the basis of the breathalyzer analysis where
you exhale into an instrument that measures the
amount of alcohol you have in your system.
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Testing for Intoxication
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Rate of Absorption
Depends on:
Amount of alcohol consumed
The alcohol content of
the beverage
Time taken to consume it
Quantity and type of food
present in the stomach
Physiology of the consumer
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BAC: Blood Alcohol Content
Expressed as percent weight per
volume of blood
Legal limit in all states is 0.08
percent
Parameters influencing BAC:
• Body weight
• Alcohol content
• Number of beverages consumed
• Time since consumption
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BAC Calculation
Burn-off rate of 0.015 percent per hour, but can vary:
Male
0.071  (oz)  (% alcohol)
BAC =
body weight
Female 0.085  (oz)  (% alcohol)
BAC =
body weight
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Field Tests
Preliminary tests—used to determine the degree of suspect’s
physical impairment and whether or not another test is justified
Psychophysical tests—three basic tests:
• Horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN): follow a pen or small
flashlight, tracking left to right with one’s eyes. In general,
wavering at 45 degrees indicates 0.10 BAC.
• Nine-step walk and turn (WAT): comprehend and execute
two or more simple instructions at one time
• One-leg stand (OLS): maintain balance; comprehend and
execute two or more simple instructions at one time
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The Breathalyzer
More practical in the field
Collects and measures alcohol content
of alveolar breath
Breath sample mixes with 3 ml of 0.025 percent K2Cr2O7 in sulfuric
acid and water:
2K2Cr2O7 +3C2H5OH + 8H2SO4  2Cr2(SO4)3 + 2K2SO4 + 3CH3COOH + 11H2O
Potassium dichromate is yellow; as concentration decreases, its light
absorption diminishes, so the breathalyzer indirectly measures
alcohol concentration by measuring light absorption of potassium
dichromate before and after the reaction with alcohol.
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Generalizations
During absorption, the concentration of alcohol in arterial
blood is higher than in venous blood.
Breath tests reflect alcohol concentration in the pulmonary
artery.
The breathalyzer also can react with acetone (as found in
diabetics), acetaldehyde, methanol, isopropyl alcohol,
and paraldehyde, but these are toxic and their presence
means the person is in serious medical condition.
Breathalyzers now use an infrared light-absorption device
with a digital readout. Prints out a card for a permanent
record.
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Breath Testers
• Breath testers that
operate on the
principle of infrared
light absorption are
becoming
increasingly popular
within the law
enforcement
community.
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Breath Testers
• Many types of breath testers are designed to
analyze a set volume of breath.
• The captured breath is exposed to infrared light.
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Breath Testers
• It’s the degree of the interaction of the
light with alcohol in the captured breath
sample that allows the instrument to
measure a blood alcohol concentration in
breath.
• Some breath testing devices also use fuel
cells.
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Field Testing
• Law enforcement officers typically use field
sobriety tests to estimate a motorist’s degree of
physical impairment by alcohol and whether or
not an evidential test for alcohol is justified.
• The horizontal gaze nystagmus test, walk and turn,
and the one-leg stand are all considered reliable
and effective psychophysical tests.
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Field Testing
• A portable, handheld, roadside breath tester may
be used to determine a preliminary breath-alcohol
content.
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Gas Chromatography Testing
• Gas chromatography offers the toxicologist the
most widely used approach for determining
alcohol levels in blood.
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Drunk Driver Kills Cyclist
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Drug Identification
• The challenge or difficulty of forensic drug
identification comes in selecting analytical
procedures that will ensure a specific
identification of a drug.
• This plan, or scheme of analysis, is divided into
two phases.
– Screening test that is nonspecific and preliminary in
nature to reduce the possibilities to a manageable
number.
– Confirmation test that is a single test that
specifically identifies a substance.
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Preliminary Analysis
• Faced with the prospect that the unknown
substance may be any one of a thousand or
more commonly encountered drugs, the analyst
must employ screening tests to reduce these
possibilities to a small and manageable
number.
• This objective is often accomplished by
subjecting the material to a series of color tests
that will produce characteristic colors for the
more commonly encountered illicit drugs.
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Liquid Drug Analysis
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Liquid Drug Analysis
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Liquid Drug Analysis
Mr. Puckett as a
Clinical Chemistry
Instructor for
Olympus Medical
Instruments
These analyzers
detect drugs in blood
and urine.
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Preliminary Analysis
• Microcrystalline tests can also be used to
identify specific drug substances by studying
the size and shape of crystals formed when the
drug is mixed with specific reagents.
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Confirmational Determination
• Once this preliminary analysis is completed, a
confirmational determination is pursued.
• Forensic chemists will employ a specific test to
identify a drug substance to the exclusion of all
other known chemical substances.
• Typically infrared spectrophotometry or gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry is used to
specifically identify a drug substance.
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Mass Spectroscopy
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Infrared Spectroscopy
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Qualitative vs. Quantitative
• Another consideration in selecting an analytical
technique is the need for either a qualitative or
a quantitative determination.
• The former relates just to the identity of the
material, whereas the latter requires the
determination of the percent composition of the
components of a mixture.
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Chromatography
• Chromatography is a means of separating and
tentatively identifying the components of a
mixture.
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Chromatography
• The theory of chromatography is based on the
observation that chemical substances have a
tendency to partially escape into the
surrounding environment when dissolved in a
liquid or when absorbed on a solid surface.
• Those materials that have a preference for the
moving phase will slowly pull ahead and
separate from those substances that prefer to
remain in the stationary phase.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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TLC
• TLC uses a solid stationary phase usually
coated onto a glass plate and a mobile liquid
phase to separate the components of the
mixture.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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TLC
• The liquid will slowly rise up the plate by
capillary action causing the sample to become
distributed between the stationary phase and
the moving liquid phase.
• Because most compounds are colorless, the
materials must be visualized by placing the
plates under ultraviolet light or spraying the
plate with a chemical reagent.
• The distance a spot travels up a thin-layer plate
can be assigned a numerical value known as the
Rf value.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Gas Chromatography
• In GC, the moving phase is actually a gas called
the carrier gas, which flows through a column.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Gas Chromatography
• The stationary phase is a thin film of liquid
contained within the column.
• After a mixture has traversed the length of the
column, it will emerge separated into its
components.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Gas Chromatography
• The written record of this separation is called a
chromatogram.
• The time required for a component to emerge
from a GC column is known as retention time.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Spectrohotometry
• Just as a substance can absorb visible light to
produce color, many of the invisible radiations
of the electromagnetic spectrum are likewise
absorbed.
• Spectrophotometry, an important analytical
tool, measures the quantity of radiation that a
particular material absorbs as a function of
wavelength and frequency.
• The quantity of light absorbed at any
frequency is directly proportional to the
concentration of the absorbing species. This is
known as Beer’s Law.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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UVand IR Spectrophotometry
• Currently, most forensic laboratories use UV and
IR spectrophotometers to characterize chemical
compounds.
• The simplicity of the UV spectrum facilitates its
use as a tool for determining a material’s
probable identity, although it may not provide a
definitive result.
• The IR spectrum provides a far more complex
pattern.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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UVand IR Spectrophotometry
• Different materials always have distinctively
different infrared spectra; each IR spectrum is
therefore equivalent to a “fingerprint” of that
substance.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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The Spectrophotometer
• The spectrophotometer is the instrument used
to measure and record the absorption spectrum
of a chemical substance.
• The components of a spectrophotometer are:
–
–
–
–
A radiation source
A monochromator or frequency selector
A sample holder
A detector to convert electromagnetic radiation into
an electrical signal
– A recorder to produce a record of the signal
• Absorption spectra can be done in the visible,
ultraviolet (UV) or infrared (IR) regions.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Mass Spectrometry
• In the mass spectrometer, a beam of high-energy
electrons collide with a material, producing
positively charged ions.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Mass Spectrometry
• These positive ions almost instantaneously
decompose into numerous fragments, which
are separated according to their masses.
• The unique feature of mass spectrometry is
that under carefully controlled conditions, no
two substances produce the same
fragmentation pattern.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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GC and Mass
• A direct connection between the GC column and
the mass spectrometer allows each component to
flow into the mass spectrometer as it emerges
from the GC.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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GC and Mass
• The separation of a mixture’s components is
first accomplished by the GC.
• Then, fragmentation of each component by
high-energy electrons in the mass spectrometer,
will produce a distinct pattern, somewhat like a
“fingerprint”, of the substance being examined.
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By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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GC and Mass
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Collection and Preservation
• The field investigator has the responsibility of
ensuring that the evidence is properly packaged
and labeled for the laboratory.
• Generally common sense is the best guide,
keeping in mind that the package must prevent
the loss of the contents and/or crosscontamination.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Collection and Preservation
• Often the original container in which the drug
was seized will suffice.
• All packages must be marked with information
that is sufficient to ensure identification by the
officer in the future and establish the chain of
custody.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Drugs and Crime
• More than half of all the people arrested
in the United States test positive for
illegal drugs. Drug addiction can lead to
increased property crime and robberies.
Drug and alcohol abuse contribute to
higher rates of domestic violence, child
abuse and sexual violence. (National
Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of
Justice, 2007).
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©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Drugs and Crime
• Drug use is more closely linked to robbery and
property crime than to violent crime. Many addicts
commit crimes to get money to buy drugs. In state
prisons, those convicted of violent crimes are less likely
to have used drugs than those convicted of property
crimes. Yet at least a quarter of men who commit acts
of domestic violence also have drug abuse
problems. Woman who are drug addicts are more
likely to be victims of abuse. (Ibid.)
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
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©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Drugs and Crime
• In the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal
Correction Facilities, 32% of State prisoners and 26%
of Federal prisoners said they had committed their
current offense while under the influence of
drugs. Among State prisoners, drug offenders (44%)
and property offenders (39%) reported the highest
incidence of drug use at the time of the offense. Among
Federal prisoners, drug offenders (32%) and violent
offenders (24%) were the most likely to report drug use
at the time of their crimes. (Department of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs, 2006).
• In 2004, 17% of State prisoners and 18% of Federal
inmates said they committed their current offense to
obtain money for drugs. (Ibid.) ©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
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5-90
Drugs and Crime
• In 1998, Americans spent $66 billion on
illegal drugs, with $39 billion being spent
by consumers on cocaine (Office of
National Drug Control Policy, 2000).
• In 1999, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation reported an estimated
1,577,100 arrests for drug abuse
violations in the United Sates (Federal
Bureau of Investigation, 2000).
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
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Drugs and Crime
• Attempts to deter drug use through
punishment fail because they do not address
the complex causes of drug abuse, which begins
within the context of family problems and peer
deviant behavior. One characteristic necessary
for successful programs is continuing,
comprehensive aftercare in the community.
This reduces the chances that someone will be
arrested and convicted again (National
Institute of Justice, 2008).
FORENSIC SCIENCE: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
By Richard Saferstein
©2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
5-92