Problems of Forensic Sciences 2000 Vol. 43 (XLIII) 148-156
DIAGNOSIS OF ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSES: DIFFICULTIES FOUND
Estela G. P. MARQUES, Alice M. CASTANHEIRA, Paula PROENÇA, Paula V. MONSANTO, Sofia A. OLIVEIRA, Sofia ÁVILA, Duarte N. VIEIRA
Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Streszczenie
This paper describes a retrospective study on drugs found in samples taken from dead individuals known to be drug addicts. Cases of heroin overdoses are only considered when the concentration of free morphine in the blood is 0.2 μg/ml or higher and when there is no other cause of death. The remaining positive cases, with lower readings than the above cut-off, are considered as drug-related deaths. Opiates were detected in 97.7% of the cases, 17.3% of that were associated to cocaine.
Słowa kluczowe
Illicit drugs; Interpretation of analytical results; Drugs of abuse.