PROCESSING DRUG EVIDENCE

Processing drug evidence is accomplished the same as for other evidentiary material. Take special care to ensure none of the substance is put in contact with a skin opening or inhaled,.Maintaining the legal chain of custody is extremely vital to introducing drugs into evidence at the time of trial. The number of individuals who come into possession of drug evidence should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Drug evidence is usually found in minute quantities and often in small containers. The drug evidence and the container should be placed in a suitable outer container as soon as possible and both containers marked with your initials, date, and time the evidence was obtained.

Without chemical analysis by a competent chemist, pills, capsules, powders, and vegetable matter cannot be positively identified.

In referring to substances suspected of being drugs, you must refer to the evidence by its physical appearance, such as "a white crystalline powder suspected of being cocaine," or "a vegetable matter suspected of being marijuana."

Exact weight statements should be avoided. The amount may be referred to as approximately 1 cup of vegetable matter, approximately 1/4 teaspoon of powder, or 24 tablets (or capsules).

Drugs and drug evidence should be stored in a safe or security container inside the evidence room for proper security and should be kept there at all times except when required during the course of the investigation or trial.

Field Tests

You may use field tests to screen many of the commonly used drugs offered for sale by illegal sources. There are several drug identification kits used in the field. These kits' capabilities are constantly being improved. The Navy supply system stocks a drug detection kit (stock number 6630-01-025-2852) that is currently being used and accepted for making tests to be used in making presumptive identification of drugs. The kit provides all the necessary elements to perform color tests for major narcotics and dangerous drug classifications.

The positive results of a field test identifying a controlled substance may be considered in nonjudicial punishment proceedings by the unit's CO. If the individual is stationed ashore and refuses nonjudicial punishment, any further proceedings will require a normal laboratory analysis.

Field tests are extremely reliable as negative tests (no drug present). Their reliability as positive tests varies in degree between the different tests. This changes from time to time as cutting agents that interfere with the tests are sometimes added or sold in the illicit drug traffic. Personnel should discuss field testing with the servicing crime lab on aperiodic basis to get an update on reliability of positive field tests in their locale. There are no valid fieldtests at present for the tranquilizers, many hallucinogens, and several other less commonly found controlled substances. Field testing of a tablet or capsule should always be preceded by an attempt to identify it in the Product section of the PDR. No test should be attempted if only one pill or tablet constitutes all the evidence in a case.

Any drug that will be used as evidence must be identified by a qualified chemist using approved procedures in an adequately equipped laboratory. If the suspected material is minute, field tests should not be attempted and all the substance should be forwarded to a laboratory for analysis.

In many cases, the color reactions produced by field tests are only indicative that the suspected sample is a drug product. NOTE: Many noncontrolled substances give color reactions similar to those given by controlled substances. In addition, there are numerous controlled drugs that give no color reactions at all, or give color reactions other than those usually described by field test kits.

Finally, the testing of a suspected material through sampling should never be permitted. There is a great danger that poisons might be introduced in a drug or that the material may be a poison.

Laboratory Processing

^{NCIS laboratories} are staffed with qualified chemists and excellent equipment to identify suspected material. The chemists are prepared to testify in court, if required, as to the chemical analysis of suspected material. The laboratories use advanced techniques and sophisticated chemical compounds and equipment to analyze chemicals.

Field tests are preliminary and only indicative that a drug may be present. Laboratory examinations are precise, expert, and, in most cases, positive proof of drug existence. When suspected drugs are to be shipped to the laboratory for analysis, take care to ensure the packaging container is completely sealed and packed so spillage or breaking will not occur in transit. Tablets and capsules should be packed in sterile cotton and placed in a suitable container. A single package of evidence should never contain evidence from more than one investigation.

Disposition of Drugs

When narcotics or abuse-type drugs have served their purpose as trial evidence, the evidence custodian should make every effort to obtain disposition instructions as quickly as possible. The evidence custodian will seek the advice of the judge advocate before the destruction of the drugs or release of the drugs to the DEA. This also applies in the case of synthetic drugs. Destruction of drugs should be by fire and witnessed by a disinterested person.

DRUG ABUSE AND AIDS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Describe the relationship between drug abuse and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), Explain the ways in which the AIDS virus is transmitted within the drug culture.

An estimated 25 percent of all cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, are intravenous (IV) drug abusers. This group is the second largest at risk for AIDS, exceeded only by homosexual and bisexual men; and the numbers may be growing. Data for the first half of 1988 show that IV drug abusers made up about 31 percent of the total reported cases.

DRUG ABUSE STATISTICS

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there are 1.1 to 1.3 million IV drug users in the United States, and, so far, about 17,500 have developed AIDS. Thousands more are infected with the virus that causes this fatal illness that kills by destroying the body's ability to fight disease.

Currently, the number of IV drug users with AIDS is doubling every 14 to 16 months. Although the number of IV drug users who carry the AIDS virus varies from region to region, in some places the majority may already be infected. In New York City, for example, 60 percent of IV drug users entering treatment programs have the AIDS virus.

Among IV drug abusers, the AIDS virus is spread primarily by needle sharing. As long as IV drug abusers are drug dependent, they are likely to engage in needle sharing. Thus, the key to eliminating needle sharing and the associated spread of AIDS is drug abuse treatment to curb drug dependence. NIDA is working to find ways to get more IV users into treatment and to develop new methods to fight drug addiction.

Most nondrug users characteristically associate heroin with IV drug use. However, thousands of others inject cocaine or amphetamines. Recent evidence suggests that IV cocaine use is increasing and that the AIDS virus is spreading in those users. One reason for this may be because cocaine's effects last only a short time. When the drug, which is a stimulant, wears off, users may inject again and again, sharing a needle many times in a few hours. In contrast, heroin users usually inject once and fall asleep.

The apparent increase in IV cocaine is especially worrisome, drug abuse experts say, because there are no standard therapies for treating cocaine addiction. Until scientists find effective treatments for this problem, the ability to control the spread of AIDS will be hampered.

TRANSMISSION

Although needle sharing and unprotected sexual activity are the predominant method of transmission, non-IV drug users rank high in the transmission of AIDS.

Needle Sharing

Among IV drug users, transmission of the AIDS virus most often occurs by sharing needles, syringes, ^{or other "works."} Small amounts of contaminated blood left in the equipment can carry the virus from user to user. IV drug abusers who frequent "shooting galleries" (where paraphernalia is passed among several people) are at especially high risk for AIDS. But, needle sharing of any sort (at parties, for example) can transmit the virus, and NIDA experts note that almost all IV drug users share needles at one time or another.

Because not every IV drug abuser will enter treatment, and because some must wait to be treated, IV users in many cities are being taught to flush their works with bleach before they inject. Used correctly, bleach can destroy virus left in the equipment.

Sexual Transmission

IV drug abusers also get AIDS through unprotected sex with someone who is infected. In addition, the AIDS virus can be sexually transmitted from infected IV drug abusers to individuals who do not use drugs. Data from the Centers for Disease

Control show that IV drug use is associated with the increased spread of AIDS in the heterosexual population. For example, of all women reported to have AIDS, 49 percent were IV drug users, while another 30 percent were non-IV drug users themselves, were sexual partners of IV drug users. Infected women who become pregnant can pass the AIDS virus to their babies. About 70 percent of all children born with AIDS have had a mother or father who shot drugs.

Non-IV Drug Use and AIDS

Sexual activity has also been reported as the means of AIDS transmission among those who use non-IV drugs (like crack or marijuana). Many people, especially women, addicted to crack (or other substances) go broke supporting their habit and turn to trading sex for drugs. Another link between substance abuse and AIDS is when individuals using alcohol and drugs relax their restraints and caution regarding sexual behavior. People who normally practice safe sex may neglect to do so while under the influence.

SUMMARY

In this chapter, we discussed the Navy's policy on drug abuse and the maximum punishments that may be imposed. Nonnarcotic drugs were discussed next followed by the definition of the most commonly used drug terms. The formal scheduling of drugs was covered along with the factors used to classify drugs in each schedule. Next, we explained the Federal Controlled Substances Act (FCSA) and the registration, recordkeeping, distribution, and security requirements outlined by the FCSA. The federal trafficking penalties for FCSA schedule drugs and well as the various types of marijuana were then outlined. The uses and effects of six categories of drugs were pointed out along with the characteristics of deliriants, designer drugs, and look-alike drugs. Commonly used slang terms for drugs were covered followed by a discussion of illicit drug laboratories. We examined drug offenses in terms of investigation, apprehension, and processing of drug evidence. And finally, we looked at the relationship between drug abuse and AIDS.

CHAPTER 8 SMALL ARMS

As a Master-at-Arms, you will be concerned with pistols, rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers, and machine guns. Your responsibility in the field of small arms is twofold. First, you must know how to assemble, disassemble, and maintain small arms. Second, you must be able to train other personnel in the operation, safe handling, and maintenance of small arms.