Dallas County Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, Dallas, Texas, USA.
J Forensic Sci. 2023 Nov;68(6):2093-2102. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.15373. Epub 2023 Aug 31.
Cocaine and methamphetamine remain highly abused drugs in the United States due to their euphoric effects. This study examines classical stimulant casework, defined as cases positive for methamphetamine and/or cocaine, received by the Toxicology Laboratory and the Drug Analysis Laboratory at the Dallas County Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences from local law enforcement agencies and/or the Office of the Medical Examiner (OME) between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2022. Methamphetamine positivity increased from 10.4% to 20.3% in the Toxicology Laboratory over the 6 years, whereas cocaine positivity remained relatively stable at approximately 17%. Similarly, in the Drug Analysis Laboratory, the methamphetamine positivity rate changed from 24.8% to 33.2%, whereas cocaine identification remained stable at approximately 20%. Blood concentrations of methamphetamine in OME cases ranged from 10.1-42,740.0 ng/mL while they were lower in DWI casework ranging from 10.2-2385.0 ng/mL. The blood concentration trends of cocaine were similar to methamphetamine, with OME casework ranging higher (10.0-24,501.0 ng/mL) than DWI casework (10.2-371.6 ng/mL). Polydrug use was evident for both methamphetamine and cocaine in postmortem cases, and the top three most frequently co-occurring drug/drug class were opioids/opiates, cannabinoids, and ethanol. The results from this study aid in the understanding of historical usage trends of cocaine and methamphetamine in Dallas County and how those trends have changed over time as newer stimulant drugs have emerged.
由于可卡因和冰毒具有欣快作用，它们在美国仍然是高度滥用的毒品。本研究检查了经典兴奋剂案例，这些案例是指毒理学实验室和达拉斯县西南法医科学毒品分析实验室收到的来自当地执法机构和/或法医办公室（OME）的阳性检测结果，阳性结果为冰毒和/或可卡因。在 6 年期间，毒理学实验室中冰毒阳性率从 10.4%增加到 20.3%，而可卡因阳性率保持相对稳定，约为 17%。同样，在毒品分析实验室中，冰毒阳性率从 24.8%变为 33.2%，而可卡因鉴定保持稳定，约为 20%。OME 案例中冰毒的血液浓度范围为 10.1-42740.0ng/ml，而 DWI 案例中的血液浓度范围为 10.2-2385.0ng/ml。可卡因的血液浓度趋势与冰毒相似，OME 案例中的浓度较高（10.0-24501.0ng/ml），而 DWI 案例中的浓度较低（10.2-371.6ng/ml）。在尸检案例中，冰毒和可卡因都存在多药滥用的情况，最常同时出现的三种药物/药物类别是阿片类药物/鸦片类药物、大麻素和乙醇。本研究的结果有助于了解达拉斯县可卡因和冰毒的历史使用趋势，以及随着新型兴奋剂药物的出现，这些趋势如何随时间发生变化。
