Drug use among homicide victims. Changing patterns

Area of Science:

• Forensic Toxicology
• Public Health
• Criminal Justice

Background:

• Toxicology screens are crucial in determining the role of substances in mortality.
• Understanding substance prevalence in homicide cases informs public health and law enforcement strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze trends in drug and alcohol use among homicide victims in Bexar County.
• To quantify the prevalence of specific substances, including alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, over a defined period.

Main Methods:

• Toxicology screens were conducted on deceased individuals from Bexar County homicides.
• Data were collected for four representative years: 1985, 1986, 1990, and 1991.
• Analysis focused on the detection rates of alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs.

Main Results:

• A high positivity rate for drugs and/or alcohol (66-73%) was observed annually.
• Alcohol was detected in over half of the cases (54.2-60.3%).
• Cocaine detection surged from 1.6% in 1985 to 18.7% in 1991, while heroin use remained consistently low (2-5%).

Conclusions:

• Substance abuse, particularly alcohol and increasingly cocaine, is a significant factor in homicide cases.
• The rising trend of cocaine use warrants attention from public health and criminal justice agencies.
• Consistent low levels of heroin suggest different patterns of opioid abuse in this population.