FRSC 1011: Drugs II - Laboratory Analysis

Canadian Drug Laws

• Canadian drug laws regulate the control and distribution of controlled substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
  • Illicit Drug: A controlled substance whose import, export, production, sale, or possession is prohibited or restricted.
  • Illicit Drug Use: Unlawful importation, exportation, production, sale, or possession of such substances.

Drug Classes

• Opiates: Morphine, heroin, fentanyl.
• Hallucinogens: THC, LSD, mescaline, PCP, psilocybin, MDMA (Ecstasy).
• Depressants: Alcohol, barbiturates, tranquilizers.
• Stimulants: Amphetamines, cocaine.
• Club Drugs: MDMA, GHB, ketamine.
• Anabolic Steroids.

Criminal Offence Penalty Chart

• Overview of penalties associated with drug offenses under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act:
  • Unauthorized possession of over 30 gm of cannabis: Summary offence, 6 months or $5,000 fine; Indictable: 5 years less a day.
  • Possession of illicit cannabis: Summary offence, 6 months or $5,000 fine; Indictable: 5 years less a day.
  • Possession of certain psychedelics (e.g., LSD): Hybrid offence, 6 months/$1,000 (1st offence), up to 3 years for subsequent offences.

Collection and Preservation of Drug Evidence

• Field investigators must package and label drug evidence carefully to prevent contamination:
  • Use of original containers when possible.
  • Clearly mark all packages for future identification and establish a chain of custody.
• Provide relevant background information to aid analysis.

Drug Identification

• Analytical Procedures: Include screening (nonspecific) and confirmation tests (specific).
  • Screening tests reduce possibilities of drug identification.
  • Confirmation tests definitively identify a substance.

Preliminary Analysis

• Initial analysis allows reduction of unknown substances to manageable candidates through:
  • Color tests producing characteristic colors for common drugs.
  • Microcrystalline tests observing size/shape of crystals formed.

Confirmational Determination

• After preliminary analysis, specific tests are used to identify substances distinctively:
  • Common techniques: Infrared spectrophotometry, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Analysis

• Qualitative Determinations: Establish the identity of a material.
• Quantitative Determinations: Assess the proportion of components in a mixture.

Chromatography

• Chromatography: A method for separation of mixture components based on movement phase preference:
  • Gas carried as moving phase, solid/liquid as stationary.
  • Results recorded as a chromatogram; retention time is the key metric for each component.

Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)

• Involves solid stationary phase (glass plate) and a liquid moving phase.
  • Components are visualized under UV light or with chemical reagents.
  • Rf (rate of flow) value measures the distance travelled by components.

Gas Chromatography (GC)

• Moving phase is gas (carrier gas), stationary phase is liquid in the column:
  • After passing through a column, components separate based on interactions.
  • Chromatograms illustrate separation visually.

The Theory of Light and Spectrophotometry

• Light is a continuous wave characterized by:
  • Wavelength: Distance between wave crests.
  • Frequency: Number of crests passing a point in time.
• Spectrophotometry: Analyzes radiation absorbed by materials and dependent on wavelength and frequency.

Spectrophotometer Components

• Essential parts include:
  • Radiation source
  • Monochromator
  • Sample holder
  • Detector
  • Recorder
• Capable of recording absorption across UV and infrared spectra.

UV and IR Spectrophotometry

• Commonly utilized in forensic labs to identify materials:
  • UV spectrum: Helps propose probable identities; non-definitive results.
  • IR spectrum: Unique patterns providing a 'fingerprint' of substances.

Mass Spectrometry

• Generates ions by colliding molecules with high-energy electrons:
  • Provides unique fragmentation patterns for substances that help identify them.

GC and Mass Spectrometry Connection

• Integration allows direct transfer of components from GC to mass spectrometer for enhanced analysis:
  • GC separates components.
  • Mass spectrometer applies fragmentation to produce identifiable patterns.