Forensics Drugs

Drug

• Any chemical substance that can alter the physiology or psychology of a human being or other higher animal

• Can be classified as either pharmacological or recreational

What qualifies as a drug?

• Alcohol

• Tobacco

• Anything else that affects mind and body

Alcohol, Tobacco, Opium Lore (10000 B.C.)

• Intentionally fermented beverages existed at least as early as the Neolithic period

Alcohol, Tobacco, Opium Lore (6000 B.C.)

• Tobacco begins growing in the Americas by Native American

Alcohol, Tobacco, Opium Lore (3400 B.C.)

• The opium poppy is cultivated in lower Mesopotamia

Cannabis

• Began as food in China

• Became used as medicine in Chinese and India

• Major part of Hindu culture

• Britain bans recreational use

• Made illegal in the U.S. with the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act

LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide)

• First made by Albert Hofmann

• Sandoz Laboratories marketed it as a psychiatric cure-and hailed it as a remedy for many things

• Composed of ergot (type of fungus) and diethylamide

• Stimulates serotonin production (causes hallucinations)

• Can cause Synesthesia - blending of senses (hearing of colors)

• It is a clear liquid that gets applied to “stamps” (blotter paper) that gives a “trip” (street name for high)

Drugs in the USA - ‘60s

• Drug use became rampant and “out-of-the-closet” during this time

• Hallucinogens (LSD), barbiturates and amphetamines' found their way into society

• Marijuana became the most widespread and was the drug of the generation (Hippie - alternative name)

Drugs in the USA - ‘70s

• The Bayer Company started the production of heroin on a commercial scale to alleviate the symptoms of respiratory conditions

  • Heroin is made by chemically altering Morphine

• This lead to Heroin addiction becoming a natural problem in the U.S. during this time

Drugs in the USA - ‘80s

• Cocaine (for the rich) and Crack (for the poor) became huge

• Nancy Raegan’s “Just Say NO!” failed to work

Drug-Dependence

Determined from the following factors:

• Type of drug

• Mode of administration

• Dosage

• Frequency of use

• User’s metabolic rate

• User’s mental state/personality/character

• User’s expectations of drug experience

• How society treats them and the drug use

• How they respond to society

• Where, when, and how the drug is used

Consequence of Abstinence after Dependence

Withdrawal sickness or Abstinence Syndrome

• Body chills (tremors), sweating

• Vomiting

• Stomach cramps

• Convulsions and seizures

• Insomnia

• Pain

• Hallucinations

What drugs cause fatal withdrawal?

• Alcohol, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates (depressants and sedatives) are the only dependency-causing drugs that can cause fatal withdrawal sickness

• Most other drugs like opioids can cause severe withdrawal symptoms but they are rarely life-threatening

Narcotics

• Preferred word over “drug”

• They are Analgesics

  • They relive pain by depressing the central nervous system

  • Their regular use causes physiological and psychological dependence

  • The source is usually unripe poppy pods - opium, morphine and heroin are all derivatives

• They are not marijuana LSD, cocaine, or other “drugs” since the U.S. usually uses the word to refer to any illegal drug or any unlawfully possessed drug

Opium and its derivatives

• The unripe (green) poppy pod

  • Oozes a sticky, milky juice when cut with a blade, this is liquid opium

• The droplets turn brown when they make contact with air

• Raw opium will contain from 4% to 21% morphine as well as codeine and related alkaloids

Opium

• Cultivation of its poppies for food, anesthesia, and ritual purposes dates back to the Neolithic Age

• Recreational use of the drug began in China in the fifteenth century

• Primarily smoked

Morphine

• Derivative of opium

• Primarily injected for pain management (some oral)

• Highly addictive, more so than opium

• Severe withdrawal

• Causes tolerance, which means more dosage is required to achieve the effect

Heroin

• Popular with narcotics abusers

• Made by combining morphine with acetic anhydride or acetyl chloride

• Highly soluble in water, so it is easy to prepare for injection into the veins (injection is the fastest way to a high)

• Used by dissolving it in water, heating it, and then draws the solution in a syringe for injection

• Usually only 35% pure, the other 65% people don’t care

Codeine

• Present in opium, but can only be synthesized from morphine

• Only 1/6th as potent as morphine, so it is not popular among drug abusers

• It is a common cough-suppressant in prescription cough syrups (Robitussin-AC)

Opiates

• Synthetic drugs that are not opium derivative but have very similar physiological effects

Oxycodone (Synthetic opiate)

• A close relative of codeine

• Synthesized from Thebaine (paramorphine)

• Tolerance and Habit forming with a withdrawal similar to morphine

• Found in prescription pain killers such as Percodan, Percocet, and OxyContin

Methadone (Synthetic opiate)

• Used to prevent addicts from getting high on morphine and heroin

  • Accidentally gets them addicted to this drug instead

• Tolerance and dependence

• Administered Orally

• Deaths from this drug’s overdose are on the rise

Hallucinogens (Psychedelic Drugs)

Drugs that can alter perception, mood and normal thought processes. Include:

• Marijuana

• LSD

• Mescaline

• Phencyclidine (PCP)

• Psilocybin

• MDMA (ecstasy)

Marijuana

• Most widely used illegal drug in the U.S.

• 50% of Americans have tried it and are regular users

• Prepared from a plant called Cannabis sativa

• This drug is the crushed leaves of the Cannabis plant mixed in with the crushed flowers, stem, and seeds

• Does not cause physical dependency, but can still affect the heart rate, thought processes, and mental dependency

Weed

• Marijuana is a ____ that grows wild in almost any climate

• Can be 5-15 feet tall

• Each leaf has 5 to 9 segments and the segments have serrated edges

• Contains THC, a hallucinogen

  • Resin has the most (8-22%), then flowers (6-12%), then leaves (3-4.5%)

  • Stem, roots, and seeds have very little THC

Hashish

• Secreted by the Cannabis sativa plant

  • The plant must be soaked in a solvent like alcohol to extrude the resin from it

• Sold as a compressed/packed plant brick or nugget or as liquid

• The liquid variant is the most potent

• Extremely strong, one drop on a cigarette tip can cause a “high”

Sinsemilla

• Most potent form of Marijuana

• Made from unfertilized flowers of the marijuana plants

  • Male flowers must be removed to prevent pollination

Bhang

• The derivative of the leaf and flower of the female Cannabis sativa plant

• It is used for making beverages (a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, spices, milk, and sugar)

• It’s sometimes smoked

Effects of Marijuana

Low to moderate doses

• A feeling of well-being

• Relaxation

• Slightly altered perception of space and time

• Hunger/craving for sweets

• Heightened sense of touch, smell, taste

High doses

• Hallucinations

• Fantasies

• Distortion of shapes

• Loss of personal identity

Effects of LSD

Physical effects include

• Dilated pupils

• Elevated body temperature

• High blood pressure

• Hallucinations

• A disoriented sense of direction, distance, and time

• Lasts 2-12 hours

Bad trips can result in

• Panic

• Paranoia

• Anxiety

• Loss of control

• Confusion

• Psychosis

“Flashbacks” can occur

PCP (Phencyclidine)

• Easy to make, can be made in labs, bathrooms, garages, using “cookbooks”

• Used in powder-form called “angel dust” capsules, tablets, or liquid

• Can be smoked, sniffed, or ingested

• Used in conjunction with other drugs like LSD or amphetamines

• Hallucinogen

Effects of PCP

Initially causes

• Feelings of strength and invulnerability

• Sense of detachment

Eventually causes

• Agitation, irritability

• Confusion

• Depression, feelings of isolation

• Schizophrenic behavior

MDMA (Ecstasy)

• Hallucinogen

• Recreational/club drug

• Increases awareness of the senses and an increases appreciation of music and movement

• Comes in powder, pills, or capsules

Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol)

• Depressant

• Enters bloodstream and goes to the brain (CNS) where it affects the centers for thought processes and coordination

• In low doses, it may increase a person’s confidence (uninhibited behavior)

• Higher doses cause irritability and sadness

• Extremely high doses can be poisonous (fatal)

Barbiturates

• Depressants; called “downers”

• Affect CNS, muscle relaxant

• Offer feeling of relaxation, well-being and sleep

• Phenobarbital (slower-acting) and pentobarbital (faster-acting and more abused) are examples of more medically used versions

• Methaqualone (Quaalude) is a commonly abused non-variant that acts exactly like a variant

Tranquilizers

• Depressants

• Act on the CNS

• Do not cause the extent of sedation that barbiturates do; they do not induce sleep

• Help people cope with everyday pressures

Glue-sniffing

• Mostly depressants but have varied effects

• Started in the 1960s

• Model airplane glue

• People sniff more things now

Amphetamines

• Synthetic stimulant drugs

• Also called “uppers” “speed”

• Injected intravenously during a “speed binge”

• Gives initial “rush” or “flash” or euphoria, clarity of mind

• After the initial stimulant effect wears off, depression, restlessness and lack of confidence may follow

• Methamphetamine is a derivative

• Crystal meth is a smokable version of meth made by evaporating liquid meth

• Phenmetrizine and Phendimetrizine produce similar effects while being unrelated, used in diet pills

Cocaine

• Extracted from the leaves of Erythroxylon coca, indigenous to the Andes of South America and the tropics of Asia

• Sigmund Freud introduced it to the medical world

• White powder

• Snorted: absorbed through mucous membranes of nose

• Stimulates CNS, causes a “rush” or euphoria

• Followed by a lack of appetite, boredom, fatigue

Crack-Cocaine

• A less expensive alternative to cocaine

• Made by mixing cocaine with baking soda and water, then heating and drying

• The dried material is broken into chunks and sold as “crack rocks”

• Smoked in glass pipes and produced effects similar to cocaine but much faster

• Can also be injected

• Causes more habit forming than cocaine; very few recover from the habit

Club Drugs

• Several drugs classify as this

• Usually Synthetic

• Used in night clubs and social gatherings

• May include:

  • MDMA (Ecstasy)

  • GHB

  • Rohypnol

  • Methamphetamine

  • Ketamine

Anabolic Steroids

• Synthetic substances that mimic testosterone

• Normal testosterone plays two roles:

  • Androgen effects - makes secondary male characteristics appear at puberty

  • Anabolic effects - promotes muscle growth

• Many companies try to develop steroids that promote the anabolic effects but not the androgenic effects such as voice change and hair growth

• Can cause harmful changes in cholesterol levels, acne, high blood pressure, liver damage, and dangerous changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart

What is identified by the Marquis Test?

• Amphetamines and Meth are identified

• The solution turns yellow

What is identified by the Dillie-Koppanyi Test?

Barbiturates are identified

What is identified by the Duquenois-Levine Test?

Marijuana is idenified

What is identified by the Van Urk Test?

LSD is identified

What is identified by the Scott Test?

Cocaine is identified