[Drug addiction in the medico-legal certification of the Department of Forensic Medicine of Medical University of Gdańsk in the years 1996-2005].

The objective of the study was the presentation of the type and extent of drug addiction in the region covered by the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Medical University of Gdańsk based on the results of analyses of biological samples collected from the living and deceased subjects during the decade from 1996 to 2005. The studies were based on 110 cases of lethal intoxication after psychoactive substances overdosing and 63 cases of living people involved in the infringement of the law. Body-fluids (blood, urine) and post-mortem samples (stomach contents, small intestine contents, liver, kidney, brain and lung tissues) were collected and stored at -20 OC. The screening analysis of urine was performed using the Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay method (TDx, Abbott) and the enzyme immunoassay method (Syva Rapid Test, Dade Behring). The confirmation of positive results was carried out by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), as well as gas and liquid chromatography with various detectors (GC/FID, GC/NPD, GC/MS, LC/UV-DAD). In the last 10 years, there was noted a 3-fold increase in the number of cases that required an analysis of narcotics content, and in the last 4 years, such cases exceeded 10% of the total number of investigated cases. The number of analyses aiming at determination of amphetamine and cannabinol contents in living people (mainly among individuals that caused traffic accidents) increased. Among deceased subjects, deaths were predominantly caused by intoxication with opiates or combinations of opiates and other narcotic substances and medications. The presence of both ethanol and drugs was detected and confirmed mainly in post-mortem biological materials.