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Forensic Science

Drugs & toxicology

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Displaying 1 - 25 of 83

Cannabis Laboratory Quality Assurance Program: Exercise 3 Moisture Final Report

April 28, 2025
Author(s)
Andrea Yarberry, Charles Barber, Laura Wood, Walter Wilson
NIST launched a Cannabis Laboratory Quality Assurance Program (CannaQAP) in 2020 to assist laboratories in demonstrating and improving cannabis (hemp and marijuana) measurement comparability and competence. CannaQAP provided tools that allowed analysts and

UV Stabilizer BTMPS in the Illicit Fentanyl Supply in 9 US Locations

February 5, 2025
Author(s)
Chelsea Shover, Morgan Godvin, Meghan Appley, Elise Pyfrom, Fernando Montero Castrillo, Karli Hochstatter, Neil Garg, Adam Koncsol, Joseph Friedman, Caitlin Molina, Ruby Romero, Brendan Harshberger, Jordan Spoliansky, Candace Winstead, Edward Sisco
Bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (BTMPS) belongs to a class of molecules called hindered amine light stabilizers that are used in plastics manufacturing and as adhesives or sealants.1 BTMPS has not been studied in humans or approved for human

RaDAR Sample Collection Resources

January 21, 2025
Author(s)
Edward Sisco
This entry contains slides and videos that are intended to posted on the RaDAR website to provide RaDAR collaborators with easy access with sample collection resources.

Wound Causing Agents in the Illicit Drug Supply: Evidence from a Statewide Drug Checking Program

December 5, 2024
Author(s)
Emily Martin, Kristin Schneider, Edward Sisco, Meghan Appley, Margaret Rybak, Rae Elkasabany, Susan Sherman
Objectives To examine the prevalence of wound causing agents (xylazine, levamisole, medetomidine) in Maryland's illicit drug supply and co-occurrence with other substances. Methods Using data from Maryland's statewide drug checking program, Rapid Analysis

Drug Detection, Analysis, and Monitoring Workshop Report

August 30, 2024
Author(s)
Edward Sisco
This report is a summary of a workshop convened to capture the analytical and data challenges inherent to the detection, identification, and monitoring of illicit drugs in the United States – specifically highlighting current practices, challenges, and

Cannabis Laboratory Quality Assurance Program: Exercise 2 Cannabinoid Final Report

June 25, 2024
Author(s)
Andrea Yarberry, Melissa M. Phillips, Walter Brent Wilson
NIST launched a Cannabis Laboratory Quality Assurance Program (CannaQAP) in 2020 to assist laboratories in demonstrating and improving cannabis (hemp and marijuana) measurement comparability and competence. CannaQAP provides tools that allow analysts and

Characterization of Reference Material 8210: Hemp Plant

June 20, 2024
Author(s)
Colleen E. Bryan Sallee, Walter Brent Wilson, Charles Barber, Monique Johnson, Jenna Klingsick, Jerome Mulloor, Blaza Toman, Elena Wood, Laura Wood, Andrea Yarberry
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Reference Material (RM) 8210 Hemp Plant delivers non certified values for cannabinoids and toxic elements in a dried ground hemp plant material to help cannabis and forensic laboratories for use as

National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network Meeting Report: Managing Patients Exposed to Xylazine-Adulterated Opioids in Emergency, Hospital and Addiction Care Settings

March 16, 2024
Author(s)
Jeanmarie Perrone, Rachel Haroz, Joseph D'Orazio, Giacomo Gianotti, Jennifer Love, Matthew Salzman, Margaret Lowenstein, Ashish Thakar, Stephanie Klipp, Lisa Rae, Megan Reed, Edward Sisco, Rachel Wightman, Lewis Nelson
Used as a veterinary sedative and not approved for human use, xylazine has been increasingly linked with opioid overdose deaths in the United States. A growing number of people have been exposed to xylazine in the illicit opioid supply (especially fentanyl

Determination of D9-THC, THCA, D8-THC, and total D9-THC in 53 Smokable Hemp Plant Products by Liquid Chromatography and Photodiode Array Detection

January 8, 2024
Author(s)
Walter Brent Wilson, Aaron Urbas, MARYAM ABDUL-RAHMAN, Arianna Romares, Ewelina Mistek-Morabito
The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill has led to an estimated value of $824M for hemp production in the United States (US) in 2021 with an approximately 76% of it focused on floral hemp that is used to produce hemp-derived finished products such as smokable

Inferring the nominal molecular mass of an analyte from its electron ionization mass spectrum

August 23, 2023
Author(s)
Arun Moorthy, Anthony J. Kearsley, William Mallard, William E. Wallace, Stephen E. Stein
The performance of three algorithms for predicting nominal molecular mass from an analyte's electron ionization mass spectrum is presented. The Peak Interpretation Method (PIM) attempts to quantify the likelihood that a molecular ion peak is contained in

On the challenge of unambiguous identification of fentanyl analogs: exploring measurement diversity using standard reference mass spectral libraries

July 11, 2023
Author(s)
Arun Moorthy, Edward Erisman, Anthony J. Kearsley, Yuxue Liang, Edward Sisco, William E. Wallace
Fentanyl analogs are a class of designer drugs that are particularly challenging to unambiguously identify due to the mass spectral and retention time similarities of unique compounds. In this paper, we use agglomerative hierarchical clustering to explore

Rapid Analysis of Drugs: A Tool to Detect Drug Overdose Spikes, Build Trust Among People Using Drugs and Reduce Overdoses - Maryland, November 2021 - August 2022

April 28, 2023
Author(s)
Erin Russell, Edward Sisco, Allison Thomson, Jasmine Lopes, Dana Heilman, Margaret Rybak, Malik Burnett, Meghan Appley, Matthew Gladden
Maryland overdose deaths increased 16%, to a record high of 2,912 deaths during the 12-month period from July 2020 to June 2021. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and/or fentanyl analogs* contributed to 84% of these overdose deaths.† Timely public health
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