CRIMINAL JUSTICE FORENSICS

Some stimulants can be used in the treatment of hyperactive disorders, which can lead to abuse. Do you think more scheduling is necessary to prevent this? If so, what type of criteria should be included? Argue your opinion as to why the above listed criteria need to be included. If not, argue your reasons for leaving the scheduling as it is.

While the schedule of a drug will help determine the severity of the charge against a suspect in a drug case, the amount of drug also plays a factor. Explain the necessity of the following:

Analysis of drugs in a criminal case

The chain of custody, and

The preservation of evidence

This Assignment above is already complete your next assignment is to:

Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.

You Must Provide Feedback on what they have written.

You should include your thoughts associated with their posted information.

Additionally, you are to contribute to the discussion by adding support or constructive alternatives to your classmates’ posts.

Each response should be a minimum of 200 words.

First Student Response from Amy Fleshner

Before reading the assigned chapters this week, I had no clue as to what “scheduling of drugs” meant. “Drugs are scheduled based on medical use and potential for abuse and addiction. There are five schedules of drugs based on these three criteria” (Gaensslen & Larsen, 2013, ch.3). In the case of stimulants being used in the treatment of hyperactive disorders and the possibility of them being abuse, I do not feel that more scheduling is necessary to prevent this. I do, however, feel that it is the responsibility of the doctor as well as the parents to monitor and limit the amount and dosage of the stimulants, such as Adderall. They could do this by having weekly brood draws to determine how much of the stimulant is in their system. If there is less than the prescribed dosage, the professionals will be able to prove that the individual is doing something else with the drug, rather than taking it themselves, and they can intervene. A solution like this would allow the scheduling to stay as is, and it would put the responsibility back on the patient, the doctor, and the parents if applicable. ADD and ADHD has been diagnosed in the most recent years far more than it has been in the past. In my opinion, doctors are over diagnosing and prescribing stimulants to young people therefor we should put more restrictions and expectations on the doctors and parents to make sure the drugs being prescribed aren’t being abused, in my opinion.

In regards to the analysis of drugs in a criminal case, let’s use prescription Adderall for an example. “Drug prosecution is being adapted to target the dealers and minimize impact to the casual user. This does not mean drugs are being legalized” (Gaensslen & Larsen, 2013, ch. 3). If an individual is found with an excessive amount of Adderall, without a prescription, they are most likely to be charged with intent to distribute if other evidence puts to them being a supplier/seller. They will be prosecuted much more extensive that the individual who is buying enough to lose weight or the individual buying it illegal to focus on exams. The officer that discovers the drugs must make sure to use proper packaging in which the drugs are sealed in plastic evidence bags and follow the appropriate chain of custody. “Seal the evidence, mark it for identification, usually with the officer’s name, the date the evidence was packaged, along with some kind of identifier such as the case number for the item. After that, any time the evidence changes hands, it must be documented and storage locations noted. The final result is that a complete chain of possession and storage can be shown to the court” (Gaensslen & Larsen 2013, sec. 3.8). Once the drug is in the officer’s possession, it is important to get it to the lab to do an analysis. Even though the drug may look like Adderall, there are many different kinds of drugs being made and synthesized daily in “home made labs” there for a reliable scientist is utilized to determine exactly what is

References:

Gaensslen, R.E., & Larsen, K. (2013). Introductory forensic science. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. in the drugs that were seized.

Second Student Response from Jaime Wilson

Some stimulants can be used in the treatment of hyperactive disorders, which can lead to abuse. Do you think more scheduling is necessary to prevent this? If not, argue your reasons for leaving the scheduling as it is.

Some stimulants are for medical use and others are not. Stimulants are illegal and legal, and depending on how much is consumed of either legal or illegal it will do harm to the person taking it. I don’t think that more scheduling is necessary to prevent it, just need to limit more of what people can buy that would make these stimulants and keep an eye out for how often one person is getting the things that are needed. “In fact, nearly every drug can be fatal if enough is consumed, essentially, this makes almost every drug a poi­son. Even consumption of excessive water can deplete essential electrolytes in the body and cause death.” (Gaensslen, R.E., & Larsen, K. 2013). Just about every person uses caffeine weather it is coffee, sodas, or tea, and even through it is not illegal it can still be used to overdose with and become addicted to, just like cocaine is illegal and is very addicted. With regards to the hyperactive disorders, I think that if they need the drug weather it makes them gain or lose weight it shouldn’t matter if it helps them with their disorder. We have clients that have disorders and if they gain to much weight then they will take them off the medicine, but when they have a lower or completely of the medicine they will fight us and there is nothing we can do to protect ourselves from getting hurt. To me if it is not causing them any discomfort then they should not be off them. They are dependent on the drug to be able to live as normal as possible for them to. People that just take the drugs to be taking them shouldn’t be able to buy them or anything that maybe used to make it.

Analysis of drugs in a criminal case is very important because it could win or lose the case. The amount of drugs the person has on them could make or break a case. If the chain of custody is not followed then that could lose the case because the evidence was not handled by the right people or stored in the proper place. If your evidence has been tampered with then you can’t use it in court and it could be immiscible in court. The preservation of the evidence has to be kept in the right temperature for what you are preserving. Only people with access to the case need to handle it or the only the people with the most authority should handle it.

References: