Publisher's Synopsis
A well structured reference work reviewing the five main classes of drugs of abuse that figure prominently in forensic work: alcohol, the benzodiazepines, the opioids including heroin, the stimulants including amphetamines and cocaine, and cannabis.
It begins with an introduction to drug classes, a practical guide to specimen collection, explanation of pharmacokinetic concepts and measurements, techniques used to analyse drugs and the importance of the concepts of tolerance and dependence analysis.
There are then seven sections for each drug class covering nomenclature and source (legal and illegal), pharmacokinetics and metabolism, analytical methods for detection in biological fluids, expected and adverse effects in humans, issues of tolerance and dependence, and finally toxicology.
