Drugs

This webinar will present a recent study investigating drug background levels in forensic laboratories and its implications on data quality, data integrity, and laboratory staff safety as well as strategies for reducing background and self-monitoring.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on August 13, 2019. 
 

By combining the data in ODMAP with collaborative partnerships which span different disciplines, localities can develop and deploy a real-time plan to reduce both fatal and non-fatal overdoses.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on July 16, 2019.

Between 2016 and 2017, overdose deaths increased from 63,632 to 70,237. Of these, 47,600 overdose deaths involved opioids. In 2017, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia were the top five states with the highest rate of drug overdose deaths. 

Between 2016 and 2017, overdose deaths increased from 63,632 to 70,237. Of these, 47,600 overdose deaths involved opioids. In 2017, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and the District of Columbia were the top five states with the highest rate of drug overdose deaths. 

Forensic science research and development plays a key role in the advancement of the practice of forensic science, as noted by the 2009 National Academies of Science report “Strengthening Forensic Sciences in the United States: A Path Forward.” The Emerging Forensic Research Webinar Series provides a platform for researchers to present their novel NIJ-supported research to the forensic community.

This webinar discussed the role of emergent technologies for both separation and detection techniques employed in chromatographic systems to increase selectivity for the identification of emerging drugs. Techniques include supercritical fluid chromatography, multi-dimensional liquid chromatography, multi-modal liquid chromatography, nano liquid chromatography, vacuum ultraviolet detection, and cold electron ionization mass spectrometry.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on March 19, 2020.

Given the vital role of medical examiners and coroners (ME/C) in recognizing emerging trends in drug overdose deaths, partnering epidemiologists with ME/C offices can greatly enhance the utility of the significant volume of data generated by medicolegal death investigation. Epidemiologists from three unique ME jurisdictions—North Carolina, New Mexico and Virginia—share their experiences with monitoring drug overdose deaths, trends observed, and how best to utilize ME/C data to inform public health policy.

Attendees will hear from experts in agricultural policy, hemp industry analytical testing, and the DEA Special Testing and Research laboratory to obtain a better understanding of the issues that have developed for forensic drug testing since the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill.  This webinar will provide a history of the Farm Bill as it relates to the legalities of hemp and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).  Information on farming and quality testing used by the hemp industry will be presented.

After the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill) was enacted in December 2018, many states rushed to make changes to their own laws to allow the hemp industry to grow and thrive in their jurisdictions. By removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, Cannabis sativa L. plant material with a concentration of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol less than 0.3% on a dry weight basis was no longer considered marijuana.

Legacy workflows in toxicology generally involve a drug class screen followed by a gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC/MS-MS) confirmation analysis. Additional techniques could also be used in workflows, but their applications were focused on specific drugs. In general, analyses were serial, limited, and often required multiple methods depending on the number of drug classes in the samples. Results required lengthy and costly workflows, especially when toxicologists were working with complicated samples.

Highly toxic, synthetic drugs introduce significant health hazards to the forensic laboratory.  Understanding current knowledge and best practices will help laboratories manage their liability. This presenter covered topics such as known risks of handling hazardous drugs, creating a practical framework for the assessment, development, and improvement of safety systems, and additional research needed regarding exposure risks.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on June 25, 2020.

The Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) is a near real-time suspected overdose event surveillance platform developed by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (W/B HIDTA). The platform allows participating agencies to develop and implement response strategies that are tailored to their communities to help save lives.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on December 7, 2021.

The role of a death certificate has evolved from a legal record of death to a document used extensively by public and private entities to monitor the health of our nation. As the public health usage of death certificates continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to complete death certificates in a clear and consistent manner. This webinar will cover best practices for filling out death certificates in drug-related deaths.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on November 30, 2021.

With the increased prevalence of DART-MS in forensic laboratories comes an increased need for tools and resources. This webinar will highlight the new NIST/NIJ DART-MS Data Interpretation Tool (DIT), a freely available software tool that allows users to interpret DART-MS data resulting in improved presumptive screening of seized drug evidence. Other resources to assist with adoption and implementation of the DART-MS DIT will also be discussed.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on October 21, 2021.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Agencies (ASTHO) will provide an overview of the Project ECHO model and how the model has been adapted to create a supportive learning community of coroners and medical examiners dedicated to improving the investigation and certification of overdose deaths. 

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on October 7, 2021. 

Sam Quinones is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist and an international award-winning author of four books of narrative nonfiction. Quinones’ latest book, The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth, will be featured in this FTCoE webinar celebrating National Forensic Science Week.

This webinar will provide an overview of overdose fatality reviews (OFRs) with a specific focus on engaging partnerships with coroners, medical examiners, and medicolegal death investigators.  The presenters will highlight OFRs that have been implemented by engaging the medicolegal death investigation system and will discuss challenges and recommendations associated with implementing an OFR. The webinar will consist of three presentations on OFRs highlighting a county-level, a rural community, and a state-wide approach.