Forensic Examination of Illegal Drugs - Essay Example

Forensic illicit drug examinations are a very important element in forensics. Forensic illicit drug examinations enable forensic experts to determinewhich types of chemicals were used to facilitate the crimes in which they have been used, and they also can determine the circumstances under which a crime was committed, such as intoxication. If individuals have been wrongfully accused of doing drugs, forensic illicit drug examinations can be used to prove their innocence because a number of methods can be used to dispute these claims. In order to have a complete and in depth understanding of forensic illicit drug examinations, it is fitting to look at both the benefits and the flaws. Forensic illicit drug examinations have loads of benefits to be considered. One major benefit to forensic illicit drug examinations is that they can be used to identify various drugs and chemicals that have been used to facilitate crimes. There are a few known processes that experts use to make such determinations. One process that is used to identify compounds is the Fourier Transform infrared spectrophotometer. The sample that is under analysis is saturated with infrared radiation. This enables chemists to measure certain chemical compounds by measuring light and wave frequencies. The amount of light or wave frequencies that are put out will enable chemical compounds to be identified. This particular technique is very helpful in determining compounds that have failed, so different compounds can be tried. Another process that is used to determine various chemical compounds is gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. With this process, there are two instruments that are attached to one another that are used to test and analyze chemical compounds. The gas chromatograph is a hot oven that holds a hollowed out coil in which the diluted drug sample will be injected. This drug sample is usually diluted by being placed into a solvent. Once the diluted drug sample is placed into the coil, the solvent evaporates, and the drug travels through the coil. Each drug will stay inside the coil for a different length of time. The retention time of each drug compared to known samples helps to identify chemical compounds (Bell, 2009). These methods are especially helpful in determining which chemicals were used to kill an individual if any were used. Another major benefit to utilizing forensic illicit drug examinations is that this element of forensics can be used to determine two crucial things about an individual as it pertains to drug intoxication. One thing that it can determine is that an individual is under the influence. There are a number of ways to prove intoxication. For one, an individual’s behavior can be watched. Tapes of a person’s behavior from a crime scene can help experts determine whether or not an individual was intoxicated at the time. Along with a deep behavior analysis, drug tests can be administered. There are three different types of drug tests that forensic explicit drug examiners and doctors working along with these individuals will administer. The most common test is the urine test, and this is the least expensive. Blood tests, as well as tests done on samples of hair are also used, though; these are far more expensive than the common urine test. Typically, there are extensive examinations that are used to determine whether or not a person is truly intoxicated, as behavior and drug tests alone cannot prove this. An individual may behave a certain way due to suffering from fatigue or from taking certain medications. In addition, at least two hundred medications, both prescription and over the counter, have been known to produce false positives on especially the urine test. This is why it is very important that an extensive workup be done on the individual before drawing the conclusion that he or she is intoxicated. These extensive workups can also help tremendously in proving their innocence, should they be accused of intoxication. Sometimes, drug tests will read false positives, which put the wrongly accused in a compromising position. But with the help of an extensive workup, their innocence can be proven (Braudbar, 2010; Erowid, 2009; Smith, 2004; Wong, 2005). While forensic illicit drug examinations and forensic chemistry can tell us a great deal about the drugs that play a role in crimes or about a number of chemical compounds that have been used in numerous ways to commit crimes, there are some flaws in this area of forensics that can occur. One major flaw that can occur if a forensic chemistry expert is not careful is that the samples that they are analyzing can become tainted, which will dramatically decrease their integrity. Sometimes, intentional tampering of samples can occur, and this can happen in a number of ways. For one, some analytic techniques can cause the object or sample to become injured, as these techniques are destructive. This is typical of many of the spectroscopic techniques (Lewis, Gagg, and Reynolds, 2004). The second flaw in this element of forensics is that chemical failures can occur. This is partly a result of ozone cracking, which occurs when polymers are attacked by chemicals that are aggressive in nature. Ozone cracking causes the breakdown of rubbers, which can affect the tubing and piping in laboratories. Chemicals, such as chlorine and hose the tare chlorine based attack polymers that are susceptible, like acetal resin and polybutylene pipe work. This can not only lead to accidents but also severe failures in projects, as the pipes corrode after so much exposure to these types of chemicals. Exposure to acids that are strong in nature, as well as to prolonged environmental stress can also cause the tubing and piping to crack (Lewis and Hainsworth, 2006; Lewis, and Gagg, 2010). Then there is the flaw that drug tests can be inaccurate, which has caused large numbers of innocent people to test positive. The most common test, the urine test, is the one that is known to have the most problems in this regard; however, it continues to be the most widely used because of its cost effectiveness. Drug tests that are more accurate tend to cost much more and are not used unless they are inquired about, hence the reason they are not the first preferred choice. Not to mention, extensive workups cost a great deal of money, and the wrongly accused must carry the burden of paying large expenses (The National Workrights Institute, 2010; Tully, 2010). Concerning this, an article states, “Sometimes drug tests fail to distinguish between legal and illegal substances. Depronil, a prescription drug used to treat Parkinsons disease, has shown up as an amphetamine on standard drug tests. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen have shown up positive on the marijuana test. Even the poppy seeds found in baked goods can produce a positive result for heroin” (The Workrights Institute, 2010). Unless more expensive drug tests are used that are certain to be more accurate, or unless the standard drug tests are perfected, there will most certainly continue to be false positives. Forensic illicit drug examinations do have some flaws that need to be addressed, and certain aspects of this element need to be worked out; on the other hand, this element of forensics has been extremely helpful in solving a number of crimes and helping the wrongfully accused to prove their innocence. As technology improves and as techniques are more perfected, this element of forensics will help bring forth greater accomplishments. References Bell S (2009). "Forensic Chemistry". Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry 2. Braudbar, N. (2010). Intoxication, Drugs of Abuse Testing & Forensics Application. In Environmental Diseases. Retrieved from http://www.environmentaldiseases.com/ article_intoxication_forensics.html Erowid. (2009, April 23). Drug Testing Basics. In Erowid.org. Retrieved from http://www.erowid.org/ psychoactives/testing/testing_info1.shtml Lewis, P. R., and Gagg, C., (2010). Forensic Polymer Engineering: Why polymer products fail in service, CRC Press. Lewis, P. R., Gagg, R. and Reynolds, K. (2004). Forensic Materials Engineering: Case Studies. CRC Press. Lewis, P. R. and Hainsworth, S. (2006). Fuel Line Failure from stress corrosion cracking. Engineering Failure Analysis. 13. 946-962. Smith, F. (2004). Handbook of Forensic Drug Analysis. ACADEMIC PRESS. The National Workrights Institute. (2010). NWI Drug Testing Introduction. In Workrights.org. Retrieved From http://www.workrights.org/issue_drugtest/dt_introduction.html Tully, M. B. (2010). Know the right thing to do when your drug test is wrong. In Army Times. Retrieved from http://www.armytimes.com/community/ask_lawyer/military_askthelawyer_070827pw/ Wong, R. C. (2005). Drugs of Abuse: Body Fluid Testing. New York: Springer-Verlag New York, LLC. Read More