ABSTRACT
Drugs in bulk form or in blood or urine specimens are often involved as physical evidence in a wide variety of criminal cases. These substances are encountered in cases such as traffic accidents and fatalities, driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, public intoxication, possession or sale of controlled substances, and illicit manufacture of controlled substances. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the various types of drugs commonly encountered by police and examine some of the issues of crime scene investigation with regard to drugs and toxicology. To simplify the topic a distinction is made between bulk drugs, that is, drugs in their usual solid or liquid form, and toxicological specimens, that is, blood or urine samples that are to be tested to determine whether a drug is present.
