THESE LEARNING STRATEGIES WILL OCCUPY YOUR TIME:
12 hours of lectures will provide for the delivery of the core material. Here you will be introduced to the key theoretical principles.
6h of tutorial and practical demonstration for you to gain an appreciation of some of the practical aspects of drug identification and interpretation of results

132 hours of independent study, much of which will be tutor-guided background reading, through textbooks, websites, etc, will help to consolidate the core material and broaden your understanding.

WHICH WILL BE ASSESSED BY:

Additional Assessment Information:
Students will be required to complete 1 piece of summative assessment.
1500 - 2000 word essay from a choice of titles addressing outcomes 1-4

Students will be provided with formative assessment and feedback on submission of an essay from a title not used for summative assessment.

This module examines the increasingly important role of forensic science in the investigation of drugs and drug-related crime. The module begins with a brief introduction and overview of current UK legislation relating to drugs and alcohol, with particular emphasis on the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The major classes of controlled drugs, including cannabis, heroin, cocaine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines and ecstasy, will be briefly discussed in terms of their origin, chemical composition, usage, and their physiological and psychological effects. The common methods employed in the illegal synthesis, extraction, processing, purification and adulteration of drug substances will be outlined. The general scheme for detection, identification and quantification of drugs, by physical inspection, chemical spot tests, thin layer chromatography and instrumental analytical techniques will be discussed. The profiling of drug samples, using powerful instrumental analytical techniques, to trace supply chains and origins will also be outlined.

The relevance of alcohol to the Road Traffic Act will be discussed. The absorption, distribution and elimination of alcohol from the body, and its physiological and psychological effects will be discussed. Methods of alcohol determination in the breath, urine and blood, for both in-the-field screening and laboratory confirmation will be described, and calculations of blood-alcohol levels from knowledge of body mass indices and elimination rates will be discussed.

A brief introduction will be given to the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport, in terms of the different classes of banned substances, their administration, physiological effects and the steps taken to mask their presence. The requirements of screening for such drugs will be discussed, with emphasis on the need for ultra-high sensitivity of detection, requiring state-of-the-art analytical techniques and rigorous quality control measures to preserve the integrity of samples and avoid contamination.

AND REFER TO THESE TEXTS, TITLE, AUTHOR, PAGES:
Forensic Science: Andrew R.W Jackson and Julie M. Jackson, Pearson 2004
Crime Scene to Court: The Essentials of Forensic Science,
P White (ed), Royal Society of Chemistry, 1998
The Misuse of Drugs Act: a guide for forensic scientists, L.A.King, RSC Paperbacks 2003

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YOU WILL NEED ACCESS TO THESE RESOURCES:
Standard lecture room facilities, student handbook, appropriate laboratory facilities, access to library and to computers with www access
Blackboard VLE