Toxicological findings in 1000 cases of suspected drug facilitated sexual assault in the United States

• Published in: Journal of forensic and legal medicine Vol. 61; pp. 56 - 64
• Main Authors: Fiorentin, Taís Regina, Logan, Barry Kerr
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2019
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Alcohol; Alprazolam - analysis; Benzodiazepines - analysis; Cannabinoids - analysis; Central Nervous System Depressants - analysis; Child; Child, Preschool; Clonazepam - analysis; Crime Victims - statistics & numerical data; Date rape; Drug-facilitated sexual assault; Drugs of abuse; Ethanol - analysis; Female; Forensic Toxicology; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives - analysis; Illicit Drugs - analysis; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; Pathology; Poisoning - blood; Poisoning - epidemiology; Poisoning - urine; Sex Distribution; Sex Offenses - statistics & numerical data; Sodium Oxybate - analysis; Toxicology; United States - epidemiology; Young Adult; United States; Alcohol; Date rape; Toxicology; Drugs of abuse; Drug-facilitated sexual assault
• ISSN: 1752-928X; 1878-7487; 1878-7487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2018.11.006

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent and types of drugs found in alleged drug facilitated sexual assaults (DFSA) in 37 states and 1 territory of the United States. In total, 1000 cases were reviewed. Between the cases that gender was provided (613), most of the victims (91.68%) were woman, mean age of 26.8 years old. Blood and/or urine samples were tested. Twenty-one point six percent of the cases were negative for intoxicating substances. A hundred and one different substances were detected. Overall, ethanol was the most prevalent substance, detected in 30.9% of the cases (309 cases), followed by cannabinoids (THC/THCCOOH/11-OH-THC) (28.8% of cases), amphetamine/methamphetamine (16.5% of cases), cocaine/metabolites (10.4% of cases), and clonazepam/metabolite (7.6% of cases). The mean, median and range concentrations of ethanol in blood (n = 309) were 98.6 mg/dL, 82.0 mg/dL and 9.2–366 mg/dL, respectively. Ethanol and cannabinoids were the most frequent combination found. The absence of alcohol and drugs in some cases may represent delay in collecting samples. •Large variety of substances encountered in alleged Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault victims in U.S.•Blood alcohol concentration varied between 9.2 and 366 mg/dL.•THC/met and Ethanol were the most frequent drugs detected in blood and urine.