Toxicology for Lawyers: Drug & Alcohol Testing

Understanding drug and alcohol testing is an important aspect of legal practice. Learning how to interpret results (and knowing when to consult with an expert) from these methods and analyses is vital to the success of many cases, whether in adult criminal or juvenile court, child custody or other care and protection cases, violation of probation hearings, or other legal matters involving drug or alcohol evidence. Allegations of drugs or alcohol use and misuse are not always supported by the weight of relevant scientific evidence. Weighing that evidence involves a detailed understanding of testing methods-both “screening level” and “confirmatory”-their strengths and weaknesses, and why they can provide ambiguous results. This is especially true of tests involving opiates and amphetamines. Testing for ethyl alcohol- whether in people’s breath, urine, or blood-can yield more straightforward results, but the proper extrapolation of those results involves a detailed understanding of the pharmacokinetics of ethanol and the testing methods’ shortcomings. Understanding and interpreting the results generally requires detailed laboratory reports and medical records; even such an apparently simple process as weighing suspected drug samples may not be as straightforward as it appears.

Join the experts as we look at the fields of analytical chemistry, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, and statistics, and their roles in both criminal and care and protection cases. Learn how to evaluate the evidence, when to obtain and use your own experts, and practical litigation tips.