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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.

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. Δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and diazepam accounted for a majority of the findings in this category.

The screening of urine for the presence of drugs has received considerable attention [1–3] but methods for screening blood for basic and neutral drugs have not received the same attention, with the result that the methods which are available lack sensitivity [4.5]. A system that can detect drugs at a blood level of at least 0.1 mg per 100 ml of blood (1 μg/ml) would be considered reasonable, although this sensitivity is not required for all drugs.

GLC-FID derivatization techniques which have been found useful in our forensic toxicological case-work are described. The techniques covered include acetylation for the determination of amphetamines and morphine, methylation for the determination of diphenylhydantoin, chemical reduction for the confirmation of ethylene glycol, formaldehyde and drugs such as methadone, and bromination for the determination of bromides.

A number of methods for the determination of chloral hydrate and trichloroethanol in biological tissue have been described [1–5]. The most recent of these procedures, that of Jain et al [5], involved direct injection of an aqueous sample on to a gas chromatographic (GC) column. Both chloral hydrate and trichloroethanol exhibited relatively broad peaks with the column used and the separation of the chloral hydrate and water was not always satisfactory.

The Toxicology Section of the Centre of Forensic Sciences is the only provincial forensic laboratory in Ontario and thus provides toxicological services for the entire Province in investigations of a criminal or medicolegal nature.

3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) (Fig. 1) is a synthetic amphetamine derivative with reported psychotropic properties [1]. In Canada, the drug is included in the “Restricted Drugs” schedule of the Federal Food and Drug Act, and, therefore, cannot be used legitimately. In spite of this tight control, MDA, known as the “love pill,” has apparently become popular [2] in the drug oriented segment of our society. Tragic evidence of its popularity in Ontario was provided by five documented MDA fatalities examined in this laboratory within a 13 month period (1970–71).

A recent paper by A. W. Archer [1] has prompted us to report our results on the gas chromatographic (GC) determination of bromide in blood.

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.

Methods of analysis of phenothiazine drugs in biological material were reviewed. The methods covered include direct screening tests, extraction techniques, photometry, UV spectrophotometry, thin-layer and paper chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography and spectrofluorometry. The main advantages and limitations of the methods reviewed are briefly discussed.