Drug Analysis Activity (Saturday December 3 2011)

In an actual crime scene investigation, one might find that the victim had been forced to consume illegal drugs and died as a result. Therefore, forensic scientists must be prepared to determine if a drink,   meat, etc. was drugged. 

Prior to the activity, we researched two types of drugs:

1.Cocaine:

     a. Chemical Name: Benzoylmethylacgoine

     b. Chemical formula: C17H21NO4

     c. pH: 4.5

     d. Biochemical tests: If the victim had been forced to ingest drugs and the body was left out in a field, eventually the maggots would start to form on the human corpse. The maggots would also contain the cocaine since the body originally did. Forensics scientists would then analyze the maggots for cocaine.

2. LSD:

     a. Chemical Name: Lysergic acid Diethylamide

     b. Chemical Formula:C20H25N3O

     c. pH: 4

     d. Biochemical tests: In order to determine if the victim was drugged, forensic scientists would analyze the victim's blood and possibly urine since signs of LSD linger in those fluids after death. 

Cocaine positive (example)

LSD positive (example)

For our Activity, we had to determine whether or not 6 different liquids contained cocaine or LSD. In order to determine if the liquids are drugged, we need to use the Cocaine Reagent and LSD Reagent and add a few drops to each liquid. If the liquid turned blue, then it contained cocaine. If the liquid turned yellow, then it contained LSD. In addition, we also used pH strips to determine the pH of each liquid.

here are the results:

liquid 1.  pH: 6    Cocaine: negative -  LSD: negative -

liquid 2.  pH: 10  Cocaine: positive  + LSD: negative -

liquid 3.  pH: 3    Cocaine: negative -  LSD: positive +

liquid 4.  pH: 6    Cocaine: positive +  LSD: negative -

liquid 5.  pH: 8    Cocaine: negative -  LSD: negative -

liquid 6.  pH: 3    Cocaine: negative -  LSD: positive +