Sampling of illicit drugs for quantitative analysis. Part I: heterogeneity study of illicit drugs in Europe

Sampling of illicit drugs for qualitative and quantitative analysis would normally be considered as routine and comparable tasks in forensic drugs laboratories and previously similar statistical sampling approaches have been applied. However, we believe that two different sampling approaches, based on two different theoretical and statistical backgrounds are more appropriate. Furthermore the application of the qualitative sampling approach can be impractical for quantitative sampling as it could generate many analytical samples from a single seizure. In some countries the purity of the illicit drug in a seizure may affect the criminal sentence and therefore, reliable results for quantitative analysis are crucial. It was decided to investigate a new approach, which although incorporating some statistics also took account of our background knowledge about the composition of the drugs we were analysing. The ultimate goal was to produce recommendations for a practical sampling plan for quantitative analysis. It was found that the two key factors which had a significant effect on obtaining a representative analytical sample from a bulk seizure were the heterogeneity of the drug powder and the particle sizes of its components. This article concentrates on drug heterogeneity. Particle size effects will be addressed in part II of this study. A sampling plan was devised for a range of drug seizure types and asked ENFSI member laboratories to use it when analysing real drug seizures to provide heterogeneity data for the most common illicit drugs (heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, MDMA and cannabis (herbal and resin)). It was found that for routine quantitative drugs analysis, the sampling problems caused by heterogeneity can be solved by using an incremental sampling protocol. Furthermore, the number of increments that need to be taken for a particular drug is dependent on the relative standard deviation (RSD) required by an individual laboratory and the analytical method that they employ. A 1g increment size was found to be suitable for powdered drugs and cannabis resin. However, 1g increments were not suitable for herbal cannabis, because of particle size issues. Sampling of herbal cannabis will be addressed in Part II of this study. Recommendations for a sampling plan, based on the heterogeneity and particle size of specific drugs seizures in casework will be discussed in Part III of this study.