Forensic Pharmacology

Forensic Pharmacology explores the many links between drugs and forensic science, from drug-induced violence and crime to determining whether a person taking a certain medication is capable of standing trial for a crime, to the forgery of prescriptions. The reader is introduced to the daily work of the scientists, and the principles of pharmacology and toxicology, as well as the various classes and technical analysis of drugs of abuse.

Forensic Pharmacology offers a unique and comprehensible account of pharmacological methods and knowledge, and how to use them to solve problems in crimes from drunken driving to murder. It also deals with negligence in giving drugs, and adverse reactions to drugs. The text is enlivened by cases from the literature and from the authors' experience. Appendices give detailed examples of pharmacological problems and their solutions; tables and equations for alcohol calculations; and data for medicines encountered in forensic work. Experts do not always understand what lawyers want of them, and lawyers fail to appreciate that experts in medicine and pharmacology may not be experts in the law. The section entitled 'legal considerations' was written by a barrister with wide experience of using expert evidence and explains clearly the legal principles. It also contains some helpful hints on how to deal with court procedure and adversarial lawyers.

The herbai medicine industry is growing at an astounding rate. Trade group estimates suggest that total sales exceeded $4 billion dollars in 1999. Herbai remedies are for sale not just in health food stores, but in supermar kets, drug stores, and even discount warehouses. Along with the proliferation in sales has come a proliferation ofinformation sources. Not all ofthe sources are equally reliable, or even intelligible. Traditional herbalists c1assify thistle and mugwort as "cholagogues," substances used to make the gallbladder con tract and release bile. Medical school graduates are unlikely to have ever heard the term, or even accept the notion that most right-sided abdominal pain is a result of diminished bile flow. Heroin and cocaine may not be the only drugs to come from plants, but a practicing physician or toxicologist might be forgiven for thinking so. In 1998, 1264 papers were published about cocaine and only 17 about kava kava, an abused herb that is not without toxic side effects. Unfortunately, the majority of the papers about kava kava were published in journals not found in ordi nary hospitallibraries. In recognition ofthis fact, and ofthe obvious need for a reliable reference work on herbai toxicology, The Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology 0/ Herbal Products was an early addition to our new series in Forensie Science and Medicine. It is very badly needed.

A well structured reference work reviewing the five main classes of drugs of abuse that figure prominently in forensic work: alcohol, the benzodiazepines, the opioids including heroin, the stimulants including amphetamines and cocaine, and cannabis. It begins with an introduction to drug classes, a practical guide to specimen collection, explanation of pharmacokinetic concepts and measurements, techniques used to analyse drugs and the importance of the concepts of tolerance and dependence analysis. There are then seven sections for each drug class covering nomenclature and source (legal and illegal), pharmacokinetics and metabolism, analytical methods for detection in biological fluids, expected and adverse effects in humans, issues of tolerance and dependence, and finally toxicology.

The second edition of Forensic Toxicology: Principles and Concepts takes the reader back to the origins of forensic toxicology providing an overview of the largely unchanging principles of the discipline. The text focuses on the major tenets in forensic toxicology, including an introduction to the discipline, principles of forensic toxicology including pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug interactions and toxicogenomics, fundamentals of forensic toxicology analysis, types of interpretations based on analytical forensic toxicology results, and reporting from the laboratory to the courtroom. Also included in the second edition is a Unit focused on the forensic toxicology of individual drugs of abuse. Includes significant emphasis on the fundamental principles and concepts of forensic toxicology Provides students with an introduction to the core tenets of the discipline, focusing on the concepts, strategies, and methodologies utilized by professionals in the field Coauthored by a forensic toxicologist with over 40 years of experience as a professor who has taught graduate courses in forensic and analytical toxicology and who has served as a consultant and expert witness in civil and criminal cases

With the rapid spread of drug use and abuse in this country over the last decade, events relating to drugs have become increasingly prominent in the court of law as well as in society in general. It is anticipated that throughout the 1980s this problem will continue to be one of the major social problems in the United States. With the complexity of the Federal and state laws and their interrelationships, and with the increasing demand for the expert chemist or toxicologist, or both, in the courtroom, more education for these people relating to drugs must be implemented. The prosecuting and defense attorneys are also in need of accurate toxicological information to adequately handle cases in which drugs playa role. This book is intended to be a practical as well as an educational book-a resource tool for the active forensic chemist, as well as for the student. It is with the forensic chemist in mind that the material on controlled substances and substances found in cases of drug abuse has been arranged in a systematic order for quick and easy reference. This section includes synonyms, pharma ceutical preparations, biochemistry and/or pharmacognosy, toxicology and/or pharmacology, and how the substance is controlled under Federal law. Under the concept of scientific consideration as compared with the Federal law, this book enables one to deal with some of the major conflicts in the American legal system concerning scientific evidence and how it is presented in a court of law.

This volume is designed to feature the pharmacology of new psychoactive substances, legislative aspects, information exchange including epidemiology, and clinical, forensic, and analytical toxicology in order to facilitate the understanding of this complex and rapidly developing phenomenon.