Forensic Toxicology Services
Scientific Expertise for the Legal Community
Scientific Expertise for the Legal Community
(FTS) serves as a scientific resource in the areas of forensic toxicological analysis and interpretation for the legal community. FTS is no longer accepting casework or providing consultation services but remains available for educational activities. Professional referral is available.
is the study of drugs and poisons and their effects on the health and/or performance of the consumer.
is the application of toxicological principles to medical-legal issues such as cause and manner of death and performance or behavior of subjects relating to criminal and other activity.
is a laboratory-based process whereby specimens are examined for substances of toxicological significance (drugs, alcohols, poisons). Test findings based upon proficient laboratory analyses are scientifically accurate and reliable. Variables such as, but not limited to specimen source, collection, timing, custody, maintenance, availability and condition do not effect scientific accuracy and reliability unless they disrupt the testing process. It is what it is.
is the analysis of specimens for drugs (including ethanol) and poisons which may have some pharmacologic or toxic effect. As such, toxicological analysis represents a tool for establishing what drugs or combination a subject may have ingested and the degree of impairment the subject may have experienced following such ingestion. Several types of toxicological analyses are conducted for different purposes. These include forensic toxicological analysis, workplace drug testing and clinical/diagnostic/hospital drug/ethanol testing.
Toxicological testing may be qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative analyses are intended to identify particular substances in a specimen. Quantitative analyses are intended to both identify particular substances and to establish how much is present. Quantitative analyses are necessarily more complicated than are qualitative analyses because quantitative analyses must be calibrated and controlled for each particular substance.
Toxicological testing is destructive, meaning the specimen is consumed during the analytical process. Accordingly, while the universe of potential substances of toxicological interest may be vast, the actual scope of analysis is limited by the technology and specimen(s) available.
Forensic toxicological analysis is conducted for medical-legal purposes, which include death and criminal investigations. Laboratory findings are intended for use in Court. Accordingly, specimens are considered evidence and are received, maintained, processed and disposed under strict chain-of-custody practices. Specimens are primarily biological. Analyses are conducted in specialty laboratories pursuant to scientifically acceptable and legally defensible standards, which include redundant procedures that incorporate both presumptive and confirmatory processes and/or testing technologies.
Evidential ethanol analyses may be conducted with biological specimens including breath and some non-biological specimens such as beverages.
While forensic toxicological analyses themselves are not legally regulated, consensus-based paractice standards are evolving and laboratories are increasingly gaining independent accreditation. Standards and operations for forensic laboratory practices are also the subject of a 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences.
Workplace drug and ethanol testing is conducted for medical-legal purposes, typically as part of an employer's drug deterrence program. Because employment law invokes due-process, laboratory findings are intended for use in Court. Accordingly, specimens are considered evidence and are received, maintained, processed and disposed under strict chain-of-custody practices. Specimens are strictly biological. Analyses are conducted in specialty laboratories pursuant to scientifically acceptable and legally defensible standards, which include redundant procedures that incorporate both presumptive and confirmatory testing technologies.
What distinguishes workplace drug testing from forensic toxicological testing is the limited scope of specimens and target analytes. This is based in the original intent for workplace drug testing, namely to identify drug ingestion among safety-sensitive federally-regulated transportation industries such as railroads, aviation, trucking and pipelines. The specimens for workplace drug testing are typically limited to urine, hair and more recently, oral fluid. The scope of target drugs is primarily limited to drugs-of-abuse.
Workplace ethanol testing is typically conducted with breath.
Workplace drug testing is regulated pursuant to CFR 49 Part 40.
Use of positive workplace drug testing findings may be appropriate for some evidential purposes but not others without qualification or explanation.
Hospital/clinical drug testing is conducted for diagnostic purposes. Analyses are conducted within the treatment facility as expeditiously as possible, typically without instrumental methods and without definitive confirmation that is the hallmark of forensic examinations. Testing is typically limited to urine and the scope of target drugs is primarily limited to drugs-of-abuse.
Diagnostic drug testing is intended as a guide to treatment (e.g. drug overdose) and to avoid potentially contraindicated medication. Presumptive analytical technology (immunoassay) alone is sufficient for this purpose as is the reporting of generic drug class findings (e.g. opiates). Confirmation analysis for specific substances (e.g. morphine) is less important because members of a generic drug class will typically dictate similar treatment. Successful treatment is the goal, not production of legally defensible analytical findings.
Without confirmation of "positive" findings, diagnostic findings are inadequate to establish the presence of any particular substance. Use of "positive" hospital/clinical drug test findings is generally inappropriate for evidential purposes and reported findings typically bear disclaimers stating such.
Hospital/clinical ethanol testing is conducted for diagnostic purposes. Analyses are conducted within the treatment facility as expeditiously as possible, typically with instrumental methods different from those used in forensic laboratories. Testing is typically limited to serum derived from whole blood.
Diagnostic ethanol test findings considered for legal proceedings may be qualified as accurate and reliable even though practices and documentation may not be as rigorous as those in forensic examinations. Furthermore, diagnostic findings are based upon serum or plasma rather than whole blood, the accepted basis matrix for determining intoxication. Accordingly, expert testimony may be necessary to properly explain the significance of diagnostic ethanol findings used for evidential purposes.
Diagnostic or hospital drug and ethanol testing is regulated pursuant to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).
is a post-testing, non-laboratory process whereby the significance of test findings is examined in relation to the context of the case. Variables such as, but not limited to specimen source, collection, timing, custody, maintenance, availability and condition can affect the interpretation of otherwise scientifically accurate and reliable test findings. But it could mean something else.
is the evaluation of toxicological test findings and represents a tool for establishing what drugs or combination a subject may have ingested and the degree of impairment the subject may have experienced following such ingestion. Interpretation of toxicological findings requires knowledge of both pharmacokinetics (what the consumer does to the drug - absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination) and pharmacodymanics (what the drug does to the consumer - therapeutic effect, impairment, intoxication, death).
Drug distribution throughout the body is a complicated process. It is based upon many factors, including but not limited to the physical and chemical properties of the drug, the formulation of drug, the means by which the drug was ingested (oral, intravenous, inhalation, etc.) and the digestive (for oral ingestion) and circulatory functions of the subject. Therapeutic doses of drugs are those amounts which are prescribed for intended medicinal or therapeutic purposes and which are to be ingested pursuant to a prescribed manner and frequency. Therapeutic doses will result in a range of drug concentrations within the body intended to exert an expected assortment of medicinal or therapeutic effects on the subject. While unintended (side) effects may be manifest, such effects are expected to be minimized.
Non-therapeutic ingestion may occur when drugs are ingested in excess, which will result in supratherapeutic (above therapeutic) concentrations and have potentially toxic or in the extreme, lethal consequences. For example, prescribed doses of depressant drugs are intended to relieve anxiety but, as their doses increase, will cause inattention, incoordination, lethargy, stupor, coma, respiratory depression and death from asphyxia. Non-therapeutic ingestion may also include a manner or frequency not prescribed. This may include multiple drug combinations, repeated ingestion and subversion of the formulation. An example of the latter is where a drug formulated for oral, sustained release is crushed and insuflated (snorted) or dissolved and injected intravenously. Conversely, drugs ingested at insufficient or low doses will result in subtherapeutic (below therapeutic) concentrations and have minimal or no apparent effect.
Interpretation of toxicological findings begins with an understanding of which drugs and concentrations are therapeutic and which are not. Substances progress from innocuous to therapeutic to toxic depending upon the dose. This is due to the exacerbation of intended plus unintended (side) effects. Accordingly, a substance may be both medicinal and harmful, depending upon how much is ingested and by what means. "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous." Or "The dose makes the poison." Paracelsus (Phillippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), 1493 - 1541
The presence of one or more drugs at concentrations significantly higher than those expected from therapeutic doses may be considered, along with anatomical conditions or defects, in determining whether drug ingestion caused or contributed to death. Conversely, the lack of adequate drug in a subject may indicate non-compliance to therapy and allow for the conclusion that death was due to conditions that might otherwise have been survivable had the decedent been compliant with prescribed medication. An example of the latter is death from a seizure disorder controllable with anticonvulsant drugs.
Toxicological findings are used to assess or explain performance impairment relating to driving under-the-influence (DUI) of ethanol (alcohol) and/or drugs (DUID). Findings may also be used to establish drug/alcohol-related impairment in the actions, behavior or demeanor of a homicide victim or suspect, thereby, offering potentially mitigating circumstances when the case is adjudicated.
Drugs exert their pharmacological effects when they are present in a target organ or organ system that is susceptible to or affected by the substances which are present. The manifestation and/or toxicity of substances is the combination of all effects, intended and unintended. For example, antidepressant drugs are intended to treat psychiatric disorders but may also cause cardiac arrhythmias when co-ingested with some other substances.
In order to establish impairment from toxicological findings, one must identify a relevant substance within a relevant specimen. A relevant substance is one that exerts pharmacological activity. A relevant specimen is one that reflects the drug status of a target organ.
Most ingested drugs are called "parent" drugs and are typically pharmacologically active. However, the body's normal metabolic processes act upon the ingested parent drugs and convert them into metabolites, which may keep or lose the pharmacological activity of the parent drug. Metabolites may co-exist with the parent drug or they may persist after the parent drug has been totally converted and/or eliminated. In the end, impairment may be established only if active substances are identified, be they parent drugs or metabolites.
That is not to say the identification of inactive metabolites is without value. Such toxicological findings may be sufficient to establish ingestion of or exposure to a related substance or to distinguish acute (single or short-term) from chronic (continuous or long-term) drug use.
The most significant target organs of forensic toxicological interest are the brain and nerves that comprise the central and peripheral nervous systems and the heart. Blood circulates within these organs and systems and as such, is the most recognized, relevant specimen for toxicological analysis. Urine is commonly collected for toxicological analysis. However, urine does not circulate within these systems so toxicological findings in urine cannot qualify as a relevant basis for establishing impairment. Substances in urine have been excreted and are no longer in "the system". Toxicological findings in tissues may be considered in postmortem cases only where sufficient scientific literature exists to relate such findings to death or impairment.
That is not to say the identification of substances in urine and tissues is without value. Such toxicological findings may be sufficient to establish ingestion of or exposure to a related substance or to explain certain observed perfomance or behavior, but not necessarily the reverse. Urine ethanol concentrations along with those in blood may be used to determine whether a subject's blood ethanol concentration is rising or falling. Tissues may be the only specimen available in cases of advanced decomposition.
When considering elevated blood drug concentrations as a contributing factor in death, one must consider that such concentrations may not remain static after death. Redistribution of some drugs may occur during the postmortem interval before specimens are collected for toxicological analysis. The result is potential non-uniform change in blood drug concentrations in different parts of the body. Furthermore, the blood matrix can change after death. Accordingly, drug concentrations in blood collected at different sites on the body may vary and what may appear as elevated may not necessarily reflect what existed at the point of death. Other uncertainties, such as whether the decedent was still absorbing a dose ingested shortly before death may also complicate determining whether said ingestion was indeed excessive and, therefore, contributory.
The effects of drugs (and ethanol, which is a drug) are continuous and progressive, which means manifestations generally increase with greater biological concentrations. Said concentrations are dependent upon the dose, the route of ingestion and the time since ingestion. However, the effects may present differently amongst individuals because impairment is the sum of all of the individual's mental and physical functional responses to drugs, both intended and unintended, which are not uniform. For example, with ethanol and depressant drugs, low concentrations will impair one's inhibitions, which may result in seemingly paradoxical excited behavior. With greater concentrations, this excitation gives way to inebriation. The point at which one subject is animated and another is lethargic, stuporous or dead depends upon variable biological characteristics and tolerance. Tolerance is (1) the resistance to some effects of drugs and (2) the physiological dependency on continued doses acquired through frequent and repeated exposure. Therefore, manifestations and outward appearances can be vastly different amongst individuals at any given dose.
While it is commonly said people respond differently to drugs (and ethanol), people ultimately respond the same; just to different degrees and at different doses.
There is a well-documented relationship between blood ethanol concentrations and accuracy of task performance. Specifically, as concentrations increase, the ability to properly operate a motor vehicle decreases and the likelihood of engaging in a traffic mishap increases. This relationship is reflected in the DUI per se laws. There is also a well-documented relationship between blood drug concentrations and accuracy of task performance. However, because the degree of effects of drugs amongst individuals is so much more diverse than is with ethanol, definitive per se limitations are more difficult to scientifically establish and to legally apply. Some jurisdictions have zero-tolerance statutes for DUID whereas others employ the expertise of a toxicologist in Court to reconcile performance impairment with the presence a drug or combination of drugs.
While laboratory findings are empirical, the specific effects of any individual finding or combination are holistic (require context).
Courtroom Basics Video (PowerPoint, large file)
The Forensic Scientist: Expert Testimony and Ethics (pdf)
The Forensic Scientist: Expert Testimony and Ethics Video (PowerPoint, large file)
Guidelines for Opinions and Testimony in Forensic Toxicology (pdf)
ANSI/ASB
2019
Understanding Blood Analysis in DUI and Traffic Homicide Investigations
2009
Evidential Use of Diagnostic Ethanol Test Findings
2023-Sep-15
A Lawyer’s Guide to Drug Testing: What the Various Tests Do and Don’t Tell
Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Juvenile Justice Seminar
2021-Oct-09
A Simplified Guide to Forensic Toxicology
National Forensic Science Technology Center
2009
American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)
American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT)
Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT)
The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT)
International Association for Chemical Testing (IACT)
Journal of Analytical Toxicology (JAT)
Journal of Forensic Sciences (JFS)
National Library of Medicine (PubMed)
University of Florida On-Line Forensic Science Program (UF)
University of Florida Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine (UF)
Center of Forensic Sciences (CFS)
is the principal consultant and has retired from professional casework but remains available for educational activities. FTS is located in Birmingham, AL.
Jack R. Kalin, PhD, now retired, has over 30 years of experience in forensic toxicology including 22 years with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, an accredited full-service state forensic laboratory system. Dr. Kalin provided laboratory services and expert testimony in cases of acute drug and alcohol intoxication and mortality to coroners, medical examiners, law enforcement agencies and the Courts in criminal and death investigations throughout Alabama. Dr. Kalin has been qualified as an expert in local, state, federal and military Courts.
BSc, Biochemistry, McGill University
PhD, Biochemistry, University of Florida College of Medicine
Formerly, F-ABFT, Certified Forensic Toxicologist, American Board of Forensic Toxicology
Scientist, Southern Research, basic pharmacological research
Toxicologist, Broward County Florida Medical Examiner's Office
Toxicologist, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, Birmingham Laboratory Toxicology Section Supervisor and state-wide Toxicology Discipline Chief
Retired Fellow, Ameican Academy of Forensic Sciences
Emeritus Member, Society of Forensic Toxicologists
Tel: (205) 612-0794
Email
Local independent subject-matter expertise is available.
is the principal consultant and President of Enlighten Scientific Services.
Tel: (205) 948-4697
Email
I see humanity ease melancholy with insobriety.
I see gluttony unleash revelry, foment calamity, beget tragedy.
I see addiction as malady, worthy of sympathy, needy of remedy.
I see eventuality, reality, finality, and a bag for every body.
I see pain, prison and postmortems.
I see misery run deep.
I imply no indignity, atone with all sincerity, when I cope with levity.
Lest I weep.
- J Kalin
A... as in apple autopsy
"This was the most unkindest cut of all"
- Marcus Antonius/William Shakespeare
"You know I've smoked a lot of grass
O' Lord, I've popped a lot of pills
But I never touched nothin'
That my spirit could kill"
- Hoyt Axton/Steppenwolf
A scientist's view of morphine
"I've seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's like a settin' sun"
- Neil Young
"One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall"
- Jefferson Airplane
"Perhaps you’d understand it better
Standin’ in my shoes
It’s the ultimate enticement
It’s the smuggler’s blues
It’s a losing proposition
But one you can’t refuse
It’s the politics of contraband
It’s the smugglers blues"
- Glenn Frye
"She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie
Cocaine"
- John Cale/Eric Clapton
"I'm your mama, I'm your daddy
I'm that n**** in the alley
I'm your doctor when in need
Want some coke? Have some weed
You know me, I'm your friend
Your main boy, thick and thin
I'm your pusherman
I'm your pusherman"
- Curtis Mayfield
"Driving that train, high on cocaine
Casey Jones you better watch your speed"
- Grateful Dead
"Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends"
- Joe Cocker/Beatles
Many have died with a little help from their friends
- J Kalin
Judge: Looks here like you were drinkin’
Defendant: No, I was fishin’
Judge: What do you do when you go fishin’?
Defendant: I cool off with beer
Judge: I call that drinkin’
Defendant: Nope, drinkin's when you’re in a bar
If we're not supposed to drink and drive, why do we have beer-branded key rings?
"Oh, show me the way to the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why, no, don't ask why
For we must find the next whiskey bar
Or if we don't find the next whiskey bar
I tell you we must die, I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you, I tell you we must die"
- The Doors
If we're not supposed to drink and drive, why do we have bottle opener key rings?
"Drink Scotch whiskey all night long
And die behind the wheel"
- Steely Dan
"I ain't as good as I once was
That's just the cold hard truth
I still throw a few back, talk a little smack
When I'm feelin' bullet proof
So don't double dog dare me now
'Cause I'd have to call your bluff"
- Toby Keith
"But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on"
- Jimmy Buffet
"And we like to drink our beer from a mason jar
Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm I love this bar"
- more Toby Keith
"I sobered up, and I got to thinkin'
You ain't much fun since I quit drinkin'"
- more Toby Keith
"Weekend's here, good God almighty
People let's get drunk and be somebody"
- more Toby Keith
"Pour me somethin' tall an' strong
Make it a "Hurricane" before I go insane
It's only half-past twelve but I don't care
It's five o'clock somewhere"
- Alan Jackson
"Well, my baby, she gone, gone tonight
I ain't seen the girl since night before last
I wanna get drunk, get off of my mind
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer"
- Amos Milburn
- John Lee Hooker
- George Thorogood/The Destroyers
"Every night I go to sleep
The blues fall down like rain
Taking pills, cheap whiskey
Just to try to ease the pain"
- Blues Brothers
What's it gonna be?
"No, no, no, no, I don't (sniff) it no more
I'm tired of waking up on the floor
No, thank you, please
It only makes me sneeze
Then it makes it hard to find the door"
- Hoyt Axton/Ringo Starr
[Sniff] Hit me again.
"But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned"
- Bob Dylan
"And me, I’m flying in my taxi
Taking tips, and getting stoned
I go flying so high, when I’m stoned"
- Harry Chapin
"Don't bogart that joint my friend
Pass it over to me"
- Fraternity of Man
"One toke over the line, sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sitting downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line"
- Brewer and Shipley
- Lawrence Welk
"Some radio is blastin'
Someone's knockin' at the door
I'm lookin' at my girlfriend
She passed out on the floor"
- Randy Newman
- Three Dog Night
"Think I'll spend eternity in the city
Let the carbon and monoxide
Choke my thoughts away, yeah..."
- Hall and Oates
