ASTM Int'l Develops Standards for Seized Drugs Analysis - ASTM WK12734, ASTM WK12735
January 19, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
Two proposed ASTM International standards will serve as guides for laboratories around the world in establishing a process for validation and sampling of seized drugs.
The proposed standards, ASTM WK12734 - Guide for Sampling Seized Drugs for Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis and ASTM WK12735 - Practice for Validation of Seized Drug Analytical Methods, are under the jurisdiction of ASTM Subcommittee E30.01 on Criminalistics, which is part of ASTM International Committee E30 on Forensic Sciences.
According to Jack Mario, ASTM E30 member and supervising seized drug analyst at the crime laboratory of the Chief Medical Examiners Office in Suffolk County, N.Y., the proposed standards are being developed by the Scientific Working Group for Seized-Drug Analysis (SWGDRUG), a program sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
"SWGDRUG is composed of government laboratarians involved in seized drug analysis from around the globe," said Mario. "Their mission is to form recommendations for the practice of seized drug analysis."
Mario also said that three sets of recommendations from SWGDRUG have already been made into ASTM International standards. These are:
Prior to the work of SWGDRUG and ASTM Subcommittee E30, there were no international standards for this kind of activity.
In addition to providing guidance for laboratories dealing with seized drugs, the proposed standards will also be useful as a reference for courts and for the public in reviewing the work of laboratories engaged in seized drug testing.
Source: ASTM International.