NCJ Number
29419
Journal
DRUG ENFORCEMENT Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (SUMMER 1975) Pages: 8-15
Date Published
1975
Length
8 pages
Annotation
ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTION OF TECHNIQUES UTILIZED IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF TABLETS WITH RESPECT TO THEIR SOURCE AND DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS.
Abstract
BALLISTICS, IN ITS ORIGINAL SENSE, IS THE SCIENCE OF MOTION OF PROJECTILES IN FLIGHT. IN FORENSIC SCIENCE THE TERM HAS BEEN APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF MARKS, GROOVES, AND RIDGES MADE ON A BULLET WHEN A WEAPON IS FIRED. AS THE BULLET MAY BE TRACED BACK TO THE WEAPON BY THE UNIQUE SET OF MARKS LEFT UPON IT, SO TABLETS MAY BE IDENTIFIED WITH RESPECT TO THEIR SOURCE AND DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS BY MARKS MADE BY THE PARTICULAR PUNCHES AND DIES USED IN THEIR MANUFACTURE. THIS TECHNIQUE OF DRUG IDENTIFICATION IS KNOWN BY ANALOGY AS THE BALLISTICS METHOD. THE FIRST STEP IN TABLET IDENTIFICATION IS AN EXAMINATION OF GROSS CHARACTERISTICS, INCLUDING THE COLOR, SHAPE, DIAMETER, THICKNESS, WEIGHT, THE ENGRAVED OR EMBOSSED MONOGRAM IF THERE IS ONE, AND SCORE MARKS VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE. THIS PRELIMINARY INFORMATION DIRECTS THE ANALYST TO A PARTICULAR SECTION OF A BALLISTICS REFERENCE COLLECTION, WHICH NOW CONTAINS NEARLY 8,000 KNOWN SAMPLES OF TABLETS AND CAPSULES. A CLOSER EXAMINATION OF TABLETS SUBMITTED FOR IDENTIFICATION IS THEN MADE WITH A STEREOSCOPIC MICROSCOPE TO PERMIT A SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON WITH SIMILAR REFERENCE TABLETS SELECTED FROM THE COLLECTION. USUALLY, A MAGNIFICATION OF 10X IS SUFFICIENT. THE WIDTH, DEPTH, AND ANGLES OF SCORE MARKS OR GROOVES ARE MEASURED AND RECORDED. IF A TABLET IS FOUND TO HAVE A UNIQUE SET OF CHARACTERISTICS, IT IS ADDED AS A NEW EXHIBIT TO THE COLLECTION. IF IT APPEARS IDENTICAL TO A TABLET ALREADY IN THE COLLECTION, IT MAY BE SUBJECTED TO EVEN CLOSER SCRUTINY, AT A MAGNIFICATION OF ABOUT 25X, UNDER A BALLISTICS COMPARISON MICROSCOPE. BY DRAWING TWO IMAGES TOGETHER IN SUCH A WAY AS TO FORM A SINGLE COMPOSITE PICTURE, THIS MICROSCOPE CAN PROVIDE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF OF IDENTICAL PUNCH MARKS, INCONTROVERTIBLY INDICATING A COMMON MANUFACTURING SOURCE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)