Name:_____________________
Forensic Science
Study Guide #5 – Drugs
Due Friday, Sept. 28th
1. What percent of all evidence analyzed by forensic labs in the U.S. is
related to drugs?
2. What are features common to drugs known as “narcotics”?
3. Many narcotics are also analgesic. What does this term mean?
4. OxyContin (otherwise known as “oxy”) has become a widely abused
prescription drug. It is so frequently stolen that most small pharmacies
no longer carry it so they can avoid robberies. What illicit (illegal) drug is
it most closely related to?
5. Your book is not entirely correct when it states that marijuana does not
cause physical or psychological harm. Recent research shows that
intermittent marijuana use is linked to significantly higher rates of
schizophrenia. No question here…just wanted to correct the book’s
misinformation. 
6. What are a couple of the long-term risks with LSD use?
7. How much alcohol is produced annually in the U.S.?
8. Huffing has become a very common practice in Alaska among teenagers,
particularly in rural areas where other drugs are not readily available.
What are the physical risks associated with huffing?
9. If you are offered “ice”, what drug is it that you’re actually being offered?
10. Ecstasy, while often presented as a harmless way to experiment
(especially at raves), actually can cause some pretty serious side effects.
List five of them.
11. Due to the increased push for college scholarships (and dreams of pro
athletics), steroid use among high school students has gone up
dramatically in the past 10 years. What are some of the many drawbacks
of steroid use?
12. Describe the schedule classification system of drugs as established by the
Controlled Substances Act. Include the differences between various
schedule drugs as it relates to potential for abuse, accepted medical use,
ease of distribution, and criminal penalties. (at least a paragraph
expected, or possibly a table of your own design - I promise that you'll
see a few questions on this on an upcoming quiz)
13. What is the value in performing a screening test when first analyzing an
unknown substance?
14. Color tests allow a scientist to test for a particular drug by simply looking
for a color change in a reagent (reactive substance). Draw a simple table
or make a list of the five common color tests, what they test for, and the
color of a positive result. (We'll be doing a drug ID lab using color tests
starting tomorrow, so reading this section will be helpful.)
15. What is the basic purpose of chromatography?
16. Under the “Closer Analysis” box on pages 176-177, the textbook compares
chromatography to a race between chemical compounds. Why does this
analogy make sense? (Show that you understand the concept of
chromatography in answering this question. Read it multiple times if
necessary.)
Skip the part on Thin-layer and gas chromatography. Although interesting, we
will be doing paper chromatography in this class, so the info on TLC and GC will
not be necessary for our purposes. (gosh, don’t you just love teachers that don’t make
you read extra stuff just to keep you busy? It’s almost enough to make you want to bake
cookies for a teacher like that!  )
17. What can spectrophotometry do that chromatography cannot?
18. If I shone a UV light on a sample of heroin, would it glow purple like other
white substances exposed to UV radiation? Why or why not? (Read
about it first, then ask Mr. Mason if you’re unclear on how to answer.)
19. Infrared spectrophotometry gives more complex patterns of absorption
than UV. Is this a good thing or a bad thing with regards to positively
identifying a substance? Explain.
20. Question #1 on page 197
21. Question #3 a-d on page 197
22. Question #4 on page 197
23. Extra Credit: Look at the “Closer Analysis” section for spectrophotometry.
Read page 187 and then see if you can make sense of what is happening
by following the diagrams on 187 and 188. What is the purpose of the
monochromator? Try to explain why this simple device works.
24. Extra Credit: Explain why mass spectrometers, which separate
substances based upon their relative masses, are often connected to gas
chromatographs. (You may need to read this a few times to make sense
of it. I was somewhat cross-eyed the first time.)