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New York State's evidential oral fluid testing program
Jennifer F Limoges1, Dustin L Abbott1, Dayna L McDonough1
1New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center, Albany, New York, USA.
Journal of Forensic Sciences
|June 20, 2026
Summary
Oral fluid testing is a reliable alternative for drug-impaired driving investigations. The New York State Police found oral fluid analysis highly correlated with blood tests and valuable for detecting specific drugs like heroin.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Science
- Toxicology
- Law Enforcement
Background:
- Oral fluid offers advantages over traditional blood samples for drug testing in driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) cases.
- Ease of collection and rapid results make oral fluid a practical alternative for law enforcement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detail the implementation and analytical methods of New York State Police's (NYSP) statewide evidentiary oral fluid program.
- To present data from a pilot study and the first year of casework involving oral fluid analysis for DUID investigations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 201 paired oral fluid-blood samples during a nine-month pilot study.
- Implementation of statewide evidentiary oral fluid testing by NYSP in July 2024.
- Detailed description of analytical methods for oral fluid and blood testing used by NYSP Forensic Investigation Center.
Main Results:
- A 96% overall correlation rate between oral fluid and blood samples was observed.
- Oral fluid detected additional positives not found in blood, including 21 6-acetylmorphine (heroin metabolite) positives.
- In the first year, 703 oral fluid samples (27% of total) were submitted, indicating increasing adoption.
Conclusions:
- Evidentiary oral fluid testing is a valuable and increasingly adopted tool for DUID investigations.
- The NYSP program demonstrates a successful model for implementing oral fluid analysis in forensic casework.
- This approach can serve as a resource for other agencies seeking to enhance their DUID testing capabilities.
