USE OF MICROFOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF STREET DRUGS: DETERMINATION OF INTERFERENCE BY COMMON DILUENTS

To evaluate the FTIR technique, various diluents, adulterants, and contaminants were chosen as being typical of those found in street drugs in the Chicago area. Several microcrystal reagents were selected for reaction with the chosen drug diluents and adulterants, based on their use in the identification of illicit drugs. The analysis of commonly encountered drug diluents and adulterants showed that little or no interference was contributed by these excipient substances at greater than 20 percent drug concentrations. However, a crude extraction of the drug was required when it contained high concentrations of sugar. The great advantage of FTIR analysis for street drugs involved speed. Preliminary identification of a drug was possible with the crystal test and structural confirmation was achieved using infrared analysis. 3 references, 1 table, and 6 figures