PUBLICATION ADVISORY

NIJ Examines Innovative Strategies to Improve Methods of Drug Analysis

      WASHINGTON – The Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice today published an article about NIJ-supported research examining the workflow of drug evidence analysis in forensic laboratories. With the arrival of synthetic opioids like fentanyl and other emerging drugs, current screening methods, such as color tests (which indicate presence/absence of a particular drug class) and gas chromatography (which measures substances in gas steam), are becoming less effective due to the greater complexity of submitted samples. To address these challenges, which can ultimately lead to evidence backlogs, researchers analyzed and proposed methods that may potentially address many of the limitations of traditional analysis protocols.

      The work described in this article was supported by NIJ funding awarded to the Maryland State Police, Forensic Sciences Division. This article is based on the grantee report, “Increasing Safety, Speed, Sensitivity, and Selectivity.”

      TITLE:  Meeting the Evolving Challenges of Fentanyl and Other Emerging Drugs of Abuse: Innovative Strategies for Improving Analysis

      AUTHOR:  National Institute of Justice

      HERE: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/meeting-evolving-challenges-fentanyl-and-other-emerging-drugs-abuse-innovative

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      The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law.  More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OFFICE:  nij.ojp.gov
CONTACT:  Sheila Jerusalem at 202-598-0793 or [email protected]