Evidence-based explanations of alcohol, drugs, toxicology testing, laboratory methods, interpretation, and forensic science.
Category: Forensic Toxicology
Kratom Cardiac Arrest and the Limits of a Mitragynine Blood Level
A 500 µg/L mitragynine result in a survived cardiac arrest illustrates why concentration, treatment, specimen timing, and alternative causes matter.
Postmortem Alcohol Evidence: A Litigation Records and Source-Attribution Checklist
A litigation-focused guide to postmortem alcohol evidence, including specimen source, preservation, alternative matrices, biomarkers, higher alcohols, laboratory records, and questions for experts.
Vitreous Alcohol Evidence in Court: Ratios, Prediction Intervals, and Laboratory Records
A litigation-focused guide to measured vitreous alcohol, estimated BAC, ratio uncertainty, EtG and EtS, collection evidence, and laboratory records.
MDMA and Ecstasy Evidence in Court: Identity, Purity, Dose, and Laboratory Records
A litigation-focused guide to separating drug identity, product purity, dose, timing, effect, intent, and the laboratory records needed to evaluate each.
California Forensic Toxicology Expert Testimony: Evidence Code, Sargon & Kelly
California framework for admitting and challenging forensic toxicology expert testimony under Evidence Code §§ 720, 801 and 802, including Sargon reliability review and Kelly issues for novel scientific techniques.
Cannabis DUI Evidence: Four Questions That Must Remain Separate
A cannabis DUI framework separating proof of prior use, recent use, driving-time impairment, and crash causation using toxicology, SFST, and crash-risk research.
Amended Toxicology Reports: A Version Comparison Worksheet
A practical worksheet for comparing original and amended toxicology reports, tracking changed findings, and organizing focused laboratory follow-up.
Postmortem Methamphetamine Evidence: A Litigation Checklist
A litigation-focused checklist for evaluating postmortem methamphetamine evidence, including sampling site, redistribution, tolerance, overlapping concentrations, and laboratory records.
Edible vs. Vaporized Cannabis: Why Timing Changes the Evidence
The route of cannabis use changes the timing of both blood THC and observed effects. Controlled research shows delayed effects after edibles and rapidly falling blood THC after vaporization, even while performance effects continue.
Does THC Dilate Pupils? What Controlled Pupillography Found
The common claim that cannabis necessarily causes dilated pupils is too simple. A controlled pupillography study found reduced pupil size and a slower, less pronounced response to light after intravenous THC.
Postmortem Blood Alcohol: The Preanalytical Evidence That Can Change the Result
A postmortem ethanol number does not explain where the specimen came from, what happened before analysis, or whether some ethanol formed after death. A 2024 scientific review identifies the evidence needed to evaluate those questions.
How Accurate Are SCRAM and Other Transdermal Alcohol Monitors?
Wearable alcohol monitors measure alcohol vapor leaving the skin. They can provide a continuous record, but a transdermal alcohol curve is not the same measurement as breath or blood alcohol.
