Drug Abuse And Illegal Drugs

To illustrate the magnitude of the research problem and provide a frame of reference, this section begins with a brief overview of the increased use of pharmaceuticals and prescription drug abuse in the US. The section continues with the relationship between illicit drugs and prescriptions, adolescents’ abuse, personal and social factors; then concludes with the theoretical approach. The Social-Ecological Theory, will be applied in researching prescription drug abuse, possible influences and protective factors in adolescents in relation to prescription drug abuse, to develop focused intervention strategies and educational programs for this population, similar to other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana.

Some of the classes are sometimes larger than others. The larger the class, the less discriminating the identification, but all such associations provide relevant information (Kaye, 2009). Identification is the process of determining a substance’s physical or chemical identity of a substance such as drug analysis, species determination and explosive residue analysis as near absolute certainty as existing analytical techniques will permit (Saferstein, 2014). These are forms of physical evidence that become crucial to solving a crime. With the use of new technology, the scientists are able to determine if a known sample of a small fibre, paint chip, or shoe pattern is consistent with the unknown sample found at the scene. When individual characteristics are determined, the suspect has been linked to the

Many different drugs such as street drugs are mixed with a lot of simple household items, such as sugar, starch or quinine. The forensic scientist must be able to tell the difference between the substances. Many court cases that involve drugs rely exclusively on the forensic scientists findings. They must be able to prove that the substance found was actually a drug and not say a package of sugar or another legal

The medicine bootle, under the bed or furnitures, and in all the bags in the house like a handbags or a backpack. 8. Describe one type of test that might be used in forensic drug chemistry and when it might be used. A confirmatory test which helped them get a positive identifycation in the questionization.

Prescription drug abuse is an ongoing problem in rural teens. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health suggests that 13% of teens between the ages of 12-17 have experimented with nonmedical prescription drugs at some point in their lives. Researchers have identified several factors linked with nonmedical prescription drug use such as their school enrollment status, history of depression, and a two parent household presence (Gever, 2010).

Prescription drug abuse is the use of prescription drugs in the incorrect manner, whether it’s taking a larger dose, taking someone else’s drugs, injecting or snorting them, or simply using them to get high. The three types of drugs that are most abused are opioid painkillers, sedatives or anti-anxiety medication and simulants. Opioids are the most commonly used simply because they are easy to obtain. One of the seven deadly sins is pleasure without conscience. The abuse of prescription drugs is a direct reflection of this teaching. People destroy their bodies, life and relationships around them. Too many people are dying and abusing prescription drugs each year; creating informative programs in and out of school

Forensic labs are often called into action when police need the identity of an unknown substance to be identified as it could be an illicit drug. There are two major types of tests that can be performed. One is presumptive tests, which indicate the type of substance used, and the other is a confirmatory test, which actually determines the identity of a substance (Watson, 2008).

If flaws in testing techniques become noticeable and extreme action is not taken to control these issues, society will begin to test the validity of “forensics” as a whole. Referring back to the Motherisk case where a lack of education and professionalism took place, people began to question the science of hair testing and the reliability of investigators, and because of this many cases involving this particular laboratory had to be reevaluated (1). Employees in the Motherisk case were not informed that they were considered expert witnesses in the cases they took part in, and part of their job was to also maintain a bias free work zone, these are crucial mistakes which can lead the way for many wrongful convictions (1). The Motherisk case also demonstrated the importance of judges playing an important role in raising issues of reliability of evidence where people in question simply cannot afford it (1). Prior to final decisions judges should have all the evidence regarding the specimen of hair and the pros and cons of assessing this as a valid science (1). Only the best sciences should ever be considered in the courts. In the courts “hard science” should always be picked rather than a “soft science” because it is scientific proof (1). Hair follicle testing may one day become one of the easiest methods of testing, and will allow

They also receive up to 3 years of firearms analysis training and in some instances, may even be required to pass a proficiency test prior to being doled out independence to handle their own cases. The overwhelming majority (Almost 90%) of forensic chemists will work in government associated police department, medical examiner's office, forensic services lab or branch of the FBI. A small portion of forensic chemists work for private forensic labs. On a daily basis a forensic chemist specializing in laboratory science might examine, test, and analyze evidence including tissue samples, chemical substances, physical materials and ballistics. They may also write and present summaries of findings. One who specializes crime scene investigation may visit crime scenes in order to plan how and what evidence to collect, collect catalogue and preserve criminal evidence, take photos of or sketch the crime scene, and/or reconstruct the crime scene. Forensic chemists are also often summoned to court to testify as expert witnesses about the evidence on a crime scene and what it means to the case. Chemistry is applied when conducting the tests on evidence to understand the nature of the evidence and to draw conclusions from the data acquired from the analytical tests conducted. Some examples of these test include the qualitative examination of evidence using microscopy and spot testing, analytical toxicology that looks for evidence in body fluids through a range of instrumental techniques from optical methods (UV, infrared, and X-ray spectroscopy) to separations analyses (gas chromatography, HPLC, and thin-layer chromatography). Another frequently used testing method is mass

Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disorder which produces compulsive drug seeking and use. The abuse of drugs leads to changes in the function and structure of the brain. Consuming chemical substances to achieve pleasure or euphoria The most commonly abused classes of prescription drugs according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse include opioids used for chronic pain; central nervous system (CNS) depressants used in anxiety and sleep disorder treatments; and stimulants, such as amphetamine among others, utilized to treat attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy.[4]

One of the most misused type of drugs in the US is the misuse and abuse of Prescription Drugs. It is estimated that 52 million people in the US have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons at least once in their lifetimes. Out of those people 20 percent of them were aged 12 and older. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) did a survey in the year 2010 that found that 1 in 12 high school seniors reported past-year nonmedical use of the prescription pain reliever Vicodin and a 1 in 20 reported abusing OxyContin. It is now 2017 less than ten years from the initial report and the numbers of high school seniors abusing prescription drugs has doubled.

The lab analysts must take extensive precautions in preventing any type of contamination because samples are limited and repeating tests is costly. At this time, the medical examiner and crime scene team are put under high pressure and must be diligent and focused when in the laboratory (Dale and Becker 139) (Roberts 48). Since errors happen because of humans and not the machines (Bertino 143). To prevent lab error, detailed guidelines for Quality Control and Quality Assurance are updated regularly (National Research Council 37). In many cases, there is an abundance of evidence that is collected and requires examination. To process all the evidence in a timely manner the forensic scientists are specialized and only process one piece in the

Bodily fluids are vital pieces of evidence in both criminal investigations and forensic analyses. Fluids, including blood, semen, saliva, urine, feces, and vaginal secretions, can provide critical information related to a crime and assist in reconstruction. However, in order for this type of evidence to relay the proper information, forensic scientists need reliable methods to help identify and process the evidence collected. Over years of research, those in the forensics field have developed a number of methods for the identification of these bodily fluids. These traditional methods are widely accepted by the forensic science community as standard for use in laboratories. However, novel methods for the identification of bodily fluids are constantly being developed in order

Thin layer chromatography is the separation of substances using different solvents that run up the TLC plate to find different materials and colors in the sample. Three solvents in this test were one hundred percent acetone, one hundred percent isopropyl, and distilled water. In this test we timed the speed of each solvent and recorded the best color content. PACE Introduction Thin Layer Chromatography is a commonly used experiment in forensics, and is the separation of substances using different solvents. What I want to find out is what the fastest solvent is, but keeps the best color on the TLC plate.

Some of the vital components of an attractive candidate for forensic chemistry are a strong background in