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DRUGS
By Tanya Ricketts
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
Why are drugs used?
To sustain / prolong life
Some misuse to escape from the
pressures of life
Others may use drugs to end life
How many Americans drink alcohol
regularly?
90 million
10 million are hopelessly addicted
DOES IT CROSS SOCIAL/ETHNIC
CLASSES OF SOCIETY?
Yes
TODAY 23 million people in the US are
users of illicit drugs.
Half – million heroin addicts and nearly 6
million users of cocaine
FORENSICS LABS –
More than 75% of evidence being
evaluated in labs are drug related
What’s the difference between
PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE
and
PHYSICAL DEPENDENCE
Does drug use affect people’s needs :
Example:
HOW
Social responsibilities
Personal health
Economic relationships
Family obligations
NARCOTIC DRUGS
Narcotic – from Greek work narkotikos –
Which implies lethargy or sluggishness
Are analgesics
They relieve pain by exerting a depressing
action on the CNS
What is the source of most analgesic
narcotics?
OPIUM
Although Morphine is extracted from
opium - most addicts prefer to use one of
its derivatives – HEROIN
Highly soluble in water
What doest his matter?
It’s easier to use by IV
Provides high that lasts 3 – 4 hours – deep
sense of well being, drowsiness
Codeine is also present in opium
Present in cough suppressants
1/6 as strong as morphine
Not attractive street drug for addicts
OxyContin – an analgesic narcotic that
has effects similar to those of heroin –
prescribed to a million patients for tx of
chronic pain
HALLUCINOGENS
Are drugs that can cause marked
alterations in normal thought processes,
perceptions, and moods
WHAT IS THE FIRST ONE THAT COMES
TO MIND?
Marijuana
Most widely used illicit drug in the US
More than 43 million Americans have tried
First introduce into the US around 1920
Causes increased desire for sweets
Long term use amotivational syndrome
characterized by apathy, impairment of
judgment, memory, and concentration
Loss of interest in personal appearance
And the pursuit of conventional goals
WHAT TWO AREAS OF RESEARCH
Involving marijuana
Reduction of excessive eye pressure in
glaucoma
And lessening of nausea caused by
powerful anticancer drugs
OTHER HALLUCINOGENS
LSD – lysergic acid diethylamide
Vivid hallucinations up to 12 hours
Changes in mood – laughing or crying
Feeling of anxiety and tension
Flashbacks and psychotic reactions even
after DC use
PCP
Phencyclidine
Cookbook methods
May be mixed with other drugs
Feelings of strength and invulnerability
Dreamy sense of detachment
Unresponsive, confused, and agitated
Depression, irritability , feelings of isolation
Audio/visual hallucinations
Tendencies toward violence
Suicide accompany long term daily use of
the drug
LSD lysergic acid dethylamide
Visual hallucinations up to 12 hours
Laughing to crying, mood changes
DEPRESSANTS
First one that comes to mind?
ALCOHOL – ETHYL ALCOHOL
Depressant action on the CNS
Alcohol – to bloodstream – to brain –
suppresses brain’s control of thought
processes and muscle coordination
WHAT DOES A DRUNK SOUND AND
ACT LIKE?
EXTREMELY HIGH DOSES – may cause
and individual to lapse into
unconsciousness or even into a comatose
state that may be a prelude to a fatal
depression of circulatory and respiratory
functions
BARBITURATES
Downers
They relax
Feeling of well being, and produce sleep
Slang – terms – barbs, yellow jackets, blue
devils, reds
Taken orally
TRANQUILIZERS
Relaxing tranquility without impairment of
high thinking faculties or the inducement of
sleep
Major – reserpine and chlorpromazine –
mental patients
Mild – miltown, librium, valium, produce
psychological and physical dependency
GLUE SNIFFING
Volatile solvents
CNS depressants
Toluene, naphtha, methyl ethyl ketone,
gasoline, and trichloroethylene
Feeling of exhilaration and euphoria
combined with slurred speech, impaired
judgment, and double vision, drowsiness,
stupor
May cause liver, heart, and brain damage
High risk of death
STIMULANTS
Amphetamines
Stimulate the CNS
Uppers or speed
Feeling of well being
Increased alertness
Followed by a decrease in fatigue and loss
of appetite
depression
IV injection of amphetamine methamphetamine
Flash or rush - followed by an intense
feeling of pleasure constitutes the principal
appeal of the in route speed freak
Speed binge – may inject 500 - 1000
milligrams of amphetamines every 2 – 3
hours
Users have euphoria that produces
hyperactivity with a feeling of clarity of
vision as well as hallucinations
Then as it wears of - period of exhaustion
and may sleep continuously for 1 – 2 days
Then depression from days to weeks
New smokable of meth – ice
Effects for longer period of time
Chronic users – exhibit violent destructive
behavior and acute psychoses similar to
paranoid schizophrenia
COCAINE
Powerful stimulant to the CNS
Increased alertness and vigor
Accompanied by the suppression of
hunger, fatigue, and boredom
Sniffed or snorted absorbed through the
mucous membranes of the nose
Crack – snorted – stimulates a pleasure
center in the base of the brain, in an area
connected to nerves that are responsible
for emotions
Cocaine related deaths are a result of
cardiac arrest or seizures followed by
respiratory arrest
Peruvian farmers may be paid $200 for
enough coca leaves to make one pound of
cocaine. The refined cocaine will be worth
$1,000 when it leaves Colombia and will
sell at retail in the US for up to $20,000
CLUB DRUGS
Synthetic drugs that are used at night
clubs, bars, and raves ( all night dance
parties)
MDMA – Ecstasy
GHB
Rohypnol – Roofies
Ketamine,
methamphetamine
CNS depressants
Acts that are Associated with drug –
sexual assault, rape, and robbery
Effects accompanying the use of GHB
include dizziness, sedation, HA, nausea
Rohypnol – cant remember what
happened during the hours after ingesting
the drug
Colorless, and tasteless
Ecstasy – most popular drug at rave club
scenes
Mind altering
Hallucinogenic and amphetamine – has
effects like an appetite suppressant
was later discovered to bring about
feelings of happiness and relaxation
Seizures, muscle breakdown, stroke,
kidney failure, CV system failure often
accompany chronic abuse of ecstasy
ANABOLIC STEROIDS
Synthetic compounds that are chemically
related to the male sex hormone
testosterone
Promotes the dev. Of secondary male
characteristics and accelerates muscle
growth
Male athletes given anabolic steroids has
generally found little/marginal
strength/performance
Liver ca and other liver malfunctions have
been linked to steroid use
Masulinizing effects on females, infertility,
and diminished sex drive in males
Premature halting of bone growth
Anger and destructive behavior
depression
DRUG – CONTROL LAWS
Legal community requires a thorough
knowledge of drug classification and
definitions as they are delineated by drug
laws
Chemists report must contain all info that
is needed to properly charge a suspect
under the provisions of the existing law
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
ACT
5 schedules of classification
Most severe penalties are associated with
drugs that are listed in schedules I and II
Example – I and II an first offense - up to
20 years in prison and fine of up to 1
million for individual or up to 5 million for
other than individuals
LOOK AT DIFFERENCE BT 252 - 253
READ 252 -254
The act reflects an effort to decrease the
prevalence of clandestine drug
laboratories designed to manufacture
controlled substances
Regulates the manufacture and
distribution of precursors, the chemical
compounds used by clandestine drug labs
to synthesize drugs or abuse
DRUG ID
No room for error b/c its results will have a
direct bearing on the process of
determining the guilt or innocence of a
defendant
First – screening tests to reduce these
possibilities to a small and manageable
number - may by color tests – will
produce ch. Colors for the more commonly
encountered illicit drugs
Second phase – the analysis must be
devoted to pinpointing and confirming the
drug’s identity
COLOR TESTS
Colors produced when brought into
contact with specific chemical reagents
Screening test only
Microcystalline Tests
More specific test
Chemical reagent is added to a small
quantity of the drug on a slide
Chromatography
Thin-layer and gas chromatography
They separate drugs from their diluents
while providing for their tentative id
SPECTROPHOTOMETRY
Selective absorption of light by drugs in
the UV and IR regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum provides a
valuable technique
UV spectrum not conclusive for the
positive ID of a drug/ b/c other materials
may very well produce an
indistinguishable spectrum
Establishes the probable identity of a drug
Infrared spectrophotometry – specifically
identify a substance
Fingerprint of a compound
MASS SPECTROMETRY
Chromatography separates a drug from
other substances - but not a specific id of
material under investigation
GC/MS – gas chromatography/mass
spectrometry
READ PAGE 259
ID OF MARIJUANA
Botanical features observed under the
microscope by a trained expert
Chemical test
Short hairs having the shape of bear claws
of the upper side of the leaf
PACKGING FOR EIVDENCE
Glue sniffing – air tight
Depends on the state the drug found as to
how packaged
Criminalistics chapter 9
Do forensics CD – Activity 8 drug bust