Crime under influence of psycho-active drugs: How to enhance the window of detection?

On a regular basis, the media presents the potential risks of the use of psycho-active compounds, including misused pharmaceuticals (flunitrazepam, GHB) or drugs of abuse (cannabis, LSD, ecstasy). Ethanol is also frequently encountered. These drugs can be used for recreational purposes by addicts or can be observed after sexual assaults (drugs spiked in food). Forensic toxicology can be involved in several situations to document impairment, such as : crime under influence, date rape, driving under influence, phsychiatric disorders, determination of the cause of death... In some particular situations, it can be very cautious to investigate exposure to psycho-active drugs, due to late sampling of biological specimens. To enhance the window of detection of 3 specific drugs, the authors propose the following : 1. Use of an ultra-sensitive technique, such as GC/MS/MS/NCI for 7-aminoflunitrazepam; 2. Use of a cumulative specimen, such as sweat for GHB and 3. Use of a metabolite with a long half-life, such as ethyl glucuronide for ethanol.