Forensic Chemistry of Substance Misuse

A Guide to Drug Control

Leslie A King

• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781839164507
• eBook ISBN: 9781839166648
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Chemistry
• Index: Chemistry

Updating and expanding the coverage of the first Edition, this book provides a chemical background to domestic and international controls on substances of misuse. In the United Kingdom, structure-specific (generic) controls have been further developed in the past 13 years and now cover 17 groups of compounds. The focus of those controls has been on new psychoactive substances (NPS). Since 1997, over 800 NPS have been reported to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction. International generic and analogue controls are described together with a critical review of their effectiveness. Other, established, drugs are described as well as a large group of psychoactive substances that are not scheduled by the International Conventions

This book has general appeal to those needing information on illicit drugs including forensic scientists, lawyers, law enforcement agencies, drug regulatory authorities as well as graduate and postgraduate students of chemistry and the criminal law. The chapters are supported by chemical structures, numerous tables and charts, appendices, a glossary and a bibliography. This unique book is a valuable addition to the literature in this area and will be of great assistance to those studying this topic.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface to the 2nd Edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Coda: Beginnings
• Glossary
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1 Drug Misuse
• Chapter 2 International Drugs Control
• Chapter 3 Primary UK Drugs Legislation up to 1971
• Chapter 4 The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
• Chapter 5 UK Drugs Legislation since 1971
• Chapter 6 Nomenclature
• Chapter 7 Esters, Ethers, Salts, Homologues, Stereoisomers and Isotopes
• Chapter 8 Structure-specific Generic Legislation
• Chapter 9 Generic Control in Other Jurisdictions
• Chapter 10 Generic Control: A Critique
• Chapter 11 Analogue Legislation
• Chapter 12 What Is a Derivative?
• Chapter 13 New Psychoactive Substances (NPS): An Old Problem
• Chapter 14 Substances Not Listed in the International Conventions
• Chapter 15 Amphetamine, Methylamphetamine and MDMA
• Chapter 16 Benzodiazepines
• Chapter 17 Cannabis and Phytocannabinoids
• Chapter 18 Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists (SCRAs)
• Chapter 19 Cocaine, Crack and Synthetic Analogues
• Chapter 20 Tryptamines and Lysergamides
• Chapter 21 Gamma-hydroxybutyrate and Related Substances
• Chapter 22 Morphine, Heroin and Other Opiates
• Chapter 23 Purity, Potency, Drug Content and Prices
• Chapter 24 Measuring Drug Harm
• Chapter 25 Miscellaneous Issues
• Chapter 26 Natural Products
• Chapter 27 Drug Precursors and Intermediates
• Chapter 28 Other Harmful Substances
• Chapter 29 Social Drugs
• Bibliography
• Appendix 1: EMCDDA Risk Assessments
• Appendix 2: Modification and Amendment Orders to the Misuse of Drugs Act (1973–2021)
• Appendix 3: Substances Added Specifically to the Misuse of Drugs Act (1973–2021)
• Appendix 4: Significant Drug Case Judgments
• Appendix 5: Selected Reports of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (2002–2021)
• Appendix 6: Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids Controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act
• Appendix 7: The 34 PiHKAL Substances and 4-MTA Added to the Misuse of Drugs Act as Class A Drugs in 2001
• Appendix 8: An Unusual Case of MDMA Manufacture
• Appendix 9: Presumptive Tests for Drugs
• Appendix 10: Useful Websites
• Appendix 11: Fentanyl Derivatives Reported to EMCDDA
• Subject Index