Forensic toxicology and pharmacology

Toxicology

Study of poisons

Postmortem drug testing

Drug testing with the goal of determining whether drugs were the cause or contributing factor in a death

Workplace drug testing

Testing job applicants and employees for illegal drugs in their system

ADME stands for-

(It’s the stages in which a drug moves through the body)

Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Opiates

A kind of addictive drug that control servers pain. Types of opiates include morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone)

Amphetamine

A class of drug (synthetic) that’s mood altering and is used as a stimulant.

It makes your central nervous system more active.

What is a amphetamine classified as…

A stimulant

Anorexic

Food disorder related to a restriction of food.

Cocaine

An addictive stimulant drug

Cannabinoids

Any group of closely related compounds which include cannabinol and active constituents of cannabis.

cocaine is classified as

A schedule ll drug under the CSA

And a stimulant

Polypharmacy

The use of multiple medications by a singular person.

Gas chromatography

A technique used to separate and analyze components from a complex mixture.

Cyanide

A group of chemicals that can be deadly existing as gases, liquids, or soils. (It affects the body’s ability to use oxygen)

Carbon monoxide

A colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas . Poisoning occurs when it build up in the blood it’ll replace oxygen with itself in the red blood cells.

Methemoglobin

A form of hemoglobin that cannot carry oxygen. (Antidote to cyanide poisoning)

Immunoassays

Test using antibodies that react with a drug to recognize the antibody.

Bioanalysis

Thin layer chromatography (TLC)

The use of a solvent that travels through a porous medium to separate compounds based on their chemical affinity with the solvent and the medium.

Gas Chromatography with mass spectrometry acronym

GC-MS

Mass spectroscopy

Technique based on the detection of vaporized molecules and their ironized fragments. The detection and display of the spectra are based on the mass to charge ratios of the ions.

LC-MS

A analytical instrument that combines a liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Detects more compounds than the GC-MS.

Tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS^n)

A detection system with more than one mass spectrometer in a series. Refers to the number of MS units.

Colorimetric testing

A device used to characterize color using a spectrometer. Used to test for the presence of metals.

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

A form of mass spectrometry used to detect inorganic materials and matter.

Toxicogenomics

A persons genetic factors that effect the efficacy of a drug or poison in their syestem.

Toxicokinetics

How drugs and poisons move through the body.

LD50

Dose which is lethal to 50% of the population.

Postmortem redistribution

Concentration changes in a drug that occur after death as the drug is redistributed throughout the body.

Controlled substances act (CSA)

Legislation in the Us that define illegal drugs and classifies them by schedules

Drug enforcement administration (DEA)

The US government agency responsible for regulation of controlled drugs

Schedule l drugs

Drugs with a high potential for abuse and addiction and no accepted medical application (Hermon, LSD, marijuana)

Schedule ll drugs

Drugs that have a high potential for abuse or addiction but that also have safe accepted medical uses. (Morphine, cocaine, methamphetamine).

Schedule lll drugs

Drugs with a lower potential for abuse and addiction and accepted medical use. (Anabolic, steroids, codeine, and barbiturates)

Schedule lab drugs

Drugs with a fairly low risk for abuse and addiction with many accepted medical uses. (Valium)

Schedule V drugs

Drugs with almost no risk for abuse/ addiction and many medical uses. (Codeine cough medicines)

Cutting agents

Something added to a illicit drug to reduce it’s concentration.

Illicit drugs

Drugs that are illegal substances

SWGDRUG

Scientific working group for the analysis of seized drugs

ASTM

American society for testing and materials

Botanical examinations

Study of various plant structures that may be used to determine if the plants are controlled substances. (Marijuana peyote)

Wet chemical procedures

Procedures that involve solvents, extractions, etc. not instrumental

Microcrystalline test

A reaction between the compound of interest and chemical reagent that results in the formation of unique crystals that can be observed with the microscope.

Extraction

Separation of a compound of interest from the rest of the solution.

Physical extraction

Separating a compound by its physical size

Dry extraction

Extraction using a solvent to dissolve and remove the compound of interest

Liquid- liquid extraction

Using liquid to dissolve another liquid substance and remove it from a mixture.

Infrared spectrophotometry (IR spectroscopy)

Using the absorption of infrared radiation to produce a chemical fingerprint of a substance.

Clandestine drug laboratories

An illicit locations that manufacture controlled substances.

Vitreous humor

An ocular fluid used as a sample for postmortem toxicology testing.

Phencyclidine

A schedule l drug that causes users to experience severe psychotic manifestations. Was once used as a surgical anesthetic

Hallucinogens

A psychoactive drug that induces hallucinations or alters sensory experiences.

Designer drug

Drugs synthesized with particular pharmacological characteristics, designed for abuse evasion specific drug laws.

NIDA

National institute on drug abuse

What poison is tasteless, odorless, and lethal in small doses?

Arsenic

What heavy metal causes a blue line across the gums?

Lead

What is the original treatment for hypogonadism?

Steroids

Alcohol produces_____ as it is metabolized in the liver

Acetaldehyde

Narcotics are classified as part of which group of drugs?

Opioids (opiates) and are type of central nervous system