Introduction

White Paper – Evolving Approaches and Technologies for Seized Drug Analysis

White Paper – Evolving Approaches and Technologies for Seized Drug Analysis

← Back to FLN-TWG Main Page 

Date

December 2023

Overview

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in partnership with the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) at RTI International, formed the Forensic Laboratory Needs Technology Working Group (FLN-TWG). The FLN-TWG supports NIJ’s mission to improve knowledge and understanding of the forensic technology needs of federal, state, local, and tribal forensic practitioners and crime laboratories. 

This white paper introduces evolving approaches and technologies that are available to address existing challenges with the analysis of seized drugs and was created to inform forensic laboratory leaders and those involved in procurement of analytical instrumentation. These challenges include the rapidly evolving nature of the seized drug landscape, including the presence of NPS; the identification of closely related chemical substances, such as positional isomers and diastereomers; minor component detection in mixtures; differentiation of hemp and marijuana, including the analysis of marijuana products, THC isomers, and THC derivatives; the screening of multiple subunits; and seized drug backlogs. The Evolving Approaches and Technologies for Seized Drug Analysis subcommittee developed five technical notes describing techniques that are potential solutions to the identified challenges faced by the seized drug community. 



Funding for this Forensic Technology Center of Excellence report was provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Contact us at ForensicCOE@rti.org with any questions and subscribe to our newsletter for notifications.


Related Content

Evaluating a Statistical Method for Comparison of Mass Spectra of Novel Psychoactive Substance

← Back to Webinar Series Page This webinar originally occurred on July 25, 2024 Duration: 1 hour Overview Identification of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) based on comparisons of electron-ionization (EI) mass spectra continues to pose challenges in seized drug analysis.…

LC-DAD with Optional ESI/MS: An Emerging Gold Standard for Hemp Compliance Testing

← Back to Webinar Series Page This webinar originally occurred on June 13, 2024 Duration: 1 hour Overview Hemp compliance testing is used to quantify total Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), including both Δ9-THC and its precursor, i.e., Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (Δ9-THCA), to determine…