Narcotics: opium. Morphine from opium and make heroin.

Opiates: not derived from opium or morphine, but have the same
physiological effects. Methadone and Oxycontin.
Hallucinogens: cause marked changes in normal thought process,
perception, and moods. Marijuana, LSD, PCP, MDMA.
Depressants: decreases the activity of the CNS. Calm irritability
and excitability and produce sleep. Alcohol, barbiturates,
tranquilizers (qualine), and substances that can be sniffed such as
airplane glue and model cement.
Stimulants: increase the activity of the CNS. Increase alertness
and activity. Amphetamines, uppers or speed, cocaine.
Club Drugs: Some act like stimulants some like depressants.
Anabolic Steroids: synthetic compounds chemically related to
male sex hormone testosterone. Used for muscle growth
FIRST PASS EFFECT: Breakdown of drug by liver enzymes.

To bypass it increase dosage, put it under tongue, or

inject it so it goes right into bloodstream and into brain.
General Information:
-Alcohol appears in the blood within minutes after it has been taken
by mouth. It slowly increases in concentration while it is being
absorbed from the stomach and the small intestine into the
bloodstream.
-When all of the alcohol has been absorbed, a maximum alcohol
level is reached in the blood, and the postabsorption period begins.
-During postabsorption the alcohol concentration slowly
decreases until a zero level is reached.
-Elimination of alcohol throughout the body is accomplished
through oxidation and excretion. Oxidation takes place almost
entirely in the liver, while alcohol is excreted unchanged in the
breath, urine, and perspiration.
-Breath testing devices operate on the principle that the ratio
between the concentration of alcohol in alveolar breath and its

1. Breath Testing For Alcohol: Measures alcohol of

alveolar breath.
2. Field Sobriety Testing: psychophysical tests and
preliminary breath test.
3. Blood Analysis for Alcohol:
-1. Gas chromatography determines alcohol levels in
blood.
Compare resultant alcohol peak area to ones obtained with
known blood-alcohol standards. High degree of accuracy.
2. Acetylaldehyde: Carried out in presence of enzyme
alcohol dehydrogenase and NAD. As reaction occurs NAD
converted to NADH.
-Extent of conversion is measured by spectrophotometer
and related to alcohol concentration.
3A. Collection and Preservation of Blood:

Addition of anticoagulant (EDTA OR potassium

oxalate) prevents clotting.

Addition of preservative (sodium fluoride)

inhibits growth of microorganisms capable of
destroying alcohol.
Procedure:
1. Extraction at appropriate pH depending on if sample is a
base or acid.
2. Screening tests (immunoassay, gas chromatography,
thin-layer chromatography).
3. Confirmation test (gas chromatography and mass
spectrometry)
4. Detecting Drugs in Hair: ONLY measuring long-term
abuse of a drug.
Drugs present in blood diffuse through the capillary walls
into the base of the hair and become permanently
entrapped in the hairs hardening protein structure. As hair
grows, drugs location on hair shaft becomes a marker for
delineating drug intake.
-Drug in blood = 24 hours -Drug in urine = 72 hours
5. Detecting Nondrug Poisons:
1. Heavy Metals: homicides. (antimony, mercury,
thallium, arsenic)
REINSCH TEST: Dissolve suspect body fluid or tissue in

1. Analysis 2 phases: Screening and

Confirmation:
Screening: a preliminary test used to reduce the
number of possible identities of an unknown substance.
series of colour tests.
-Even if these tests produce negative results, their
value lies in having excluded certain drugs.
Confirmation: a single test that specifically identifies a
substance.
-Consists of a series of nonspecific or presumptive tests
that TOGETHER prove a drugs identity.
-Qualitative determination: identity of material
-Quantitative determination: percentage combination of
components of a mixture.
Colour Tests: useful for screening purposes and NEVER
taken as conclusive identification of unknown drugs.
1.Marquis (M): turns purple in presence of heroin.
Orange brown in presence of amphetamine and
methamphetamine.
2.Dillies-Koppanyi (DK): turns violet-blue for
barbiturates.
3.Duquenois-Levine (DL): turns purple when
chloroform is added to marijuana.
4.Van Urk (VU): turns blue-purple for LSD.
5.Scott Test (ST): blue for cocaine. Turns pink for
cocaine when HCL added and blue reappears in
chloroform layer.
2. Microcrystalline Test: A test that identifies a
specific substance based on the colour and shape of
CRYSTALS formed when the substance is mixed with
specific reagents. Results show characteristic for one
drug = identification.
3. Chromatography: SEPARATE + TENTATIVELY
IDENTIFY COMPONENTS.
-Any of several analytical techniques for separating
organic mixtures into their components by attraction to
a stationary phase while being propelled by a moving
phase. INABILITY to produce specific identification.
3A. Thin-Layer Chromatography: Components are
separated as they travel up a glass plate, eventually
appearing as a series of dark coloured spots on the
plate. This is then compared to a standard sample of a
specific drug such as heroin and all spots must be
aligned.
3B. Gas Chromatography: Separates mixtures based
on their distribution levels between stationary liquid
phase and a moving gas phase.
-RETENTION TIME: Time required for a component to
emerge from the column from the time of its injection
into the column very useful identifying
characteristic of a material.
4. Spectrophotometry: an analytical method for
identifying a substance by its selective absorption of
different wavelengths. An object does NOT absorb all
the visible light it is exposed to.
4A. UV and Visible Spectrophotometry: Measures
the absorbance of UV and visible light as a function of
wavelength .tentatively identifies a substance.
4B. Infrared (IR) Spectrophotometry: Absorption
bands are so numerous that EACH spectrum can
provide enough characteristics to identify a substance
specifically GOOD for IDENTIFICATION and
CHARACTERIZING drugs.
5. Mass Spectrometry NOT spectrophotometry:
-Characterizes organic molecules by observing their
fragmentation pattern after a collision with a beam of
high-energy electrons.
-NO two substances produce the same fragmentation
pattern= fingerprint
6. Identification of Marijuana: