RESUMEN
A comprehensive epidemiological study of the involvement of cannabis and ethanol in motor vehicle fatalities in the Province of Ontario, Canada, is described. The study is based on toxicological analyses of blood and, when available, urine specimens. Ethanol was determined by headspace gas chromatography (GC). For cannabis, the methods employed were radioimmunoassays (RIAs) for screening and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the determination of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in blood. The study sample consisted of 1169 drivers and 225 pedestrians. THC was detected in the blood of 127 driver victims (10.9%) in concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 37 ng/mL, with a mean of 3.1 +/- 5.0 ng/mL. Ethanol was found in 667 driver victims (57.1%), in concentrations ranging from 9 to 441 mg/100 mL, with a mean of 165.8 +/- 79.5 mg/100 mL. For pedestrians, the incidence of THC and ethanol in the blood was 7.6 and 53.3%, respectively. The incidence of THC in the driver victims in this study constitutes an approximately threefold increase over the results of an Ontario study completed in 1979. At least a part of the increase may be attributed to interstudy differences in analytical methodology for cannabinoids.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes de Tránsito/estadística & datos numéricos , Conducción de Automóvil/estadística & datos numéricos , Dronabinol/sangre , Etanol/sangre , Caminata/estadística & datos numéricos , Adolescente , Adulto , Factores de Edad , Cromatografía de Gases , Dronabinol/orina , Femenino , Cromatografía de Gases y Espectrometría de Masas , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Ontario/epidemiología , Radioinmunoensayo , Factores SexualesRESUMEN
Results are presented of a comprehensive drug study carried out on specimens from drivers and pedestrians fatally injured in Ontario. Toxicological analyses were regularly performed on blood and urine and occasionally on vitreous humor, stomach contents, and liver. The analytical procedures could detect and quantitate a wide variety of drugs including such illicit drugs as Cannabis. With respect to drivers, alcohol was found in 57% of the study sample and drugs other than alcohol, in 26%. However, in only 9.5% of the drivers were psychoactive drugs (other than alcohol) detected in the blood in concentrations that may adversely affect driving skills. Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and diazepam accounted for a majority of the findings in this category.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes de Tránsito , Preparaciones Farmacéuticas/análisis , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Diazepam/sangre , Dronabinol/sangre , Etanol/análisis , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Ontario , Trastornos Relacionados con SustanciasRESUMEN
A sensitive, reproducible, and relatively specific procedure is presented for the screening, identification, and quantitation of morphine, hydromorphone, codeine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone in autopsy blood. The drugs are isolated from whole blood by adsorption on an XAD-2 resin slurry and subsequent elution with an organic solvent mixture. Part of the resin extract is screened for morphine and related cross-reacting compounds by a commercially available radioimmunoassay (RIA) and the remainder of the same extract is analyzed by gas chromatography using a nitrogen/phosphorus detector (GC/NP). The procedure has been used frequently in forensic toxicological casework. Since toxic blood concentrations of hydrocodone have not been well documented, the results of toxicological examination of two fatalities involving this drug are presented.
Asunto(s)
Analgésicos Opioides/sangre , Drogas Ilícitas/envenenamiento , Morfina/sangre , Intoxicación , Adulto , Autopsia , Cromatografía de Gases , Humanos , Masculino , RadioinmunoensayoRESUMEN
A GC procedure is described for the screening of biological fluids for the presence of basic and neutral drugs. Extracts are chromatographed simultaneously on a two-column system designed so that a wide range of drugs can be detected. A majority of the drugs is readily detectable in blood in concentrations of 0.1 mg per 100 ml. The procedure is illustrated with examples of casework as well as examples of "spiked" blood samples.
Asunto(s)
Cromatografía de Gases , Evaluación Preclínica de Medicamentos , Preparaciones Farmacéuticas/sangre , HumanosRESUMEN
A new street-drug, para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA), recently made its appearance in Ontario. Between March and August 1973 there were nine deaths of young people in this province that were attributed to the drug. PMA appears to have a powerful hallucinogenic effect as well as a marked toxicity to the central nervous system. The clinical picture resembles that observed in cases of acute poisoning by amphetamine and methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA).