NCJ Number
191310
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 46 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 1014-1024
Date Published
September 2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article discussed volatile components of methamphetamine identified as potential candidates in the development of a pseudomethamphetamine for use with drug detecting canines during their training for methamphetamine detection.
Abstract
The U.S. Customs Service Canine Enforcement Program has successfully trained drug- detecting canines for over 25 years in the seizing of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. During training, canines are alerted to the drugs by using pseudococaine and pseudoheroin as opposed to the actual drug itself due to the expense, paperwork, and safety of the dogs. The drug methamphetamine was recently added to the canine training program. However, no pseudomethamphetamine existed and canines were being trained with actual methamphetamine. This article discussed volatile components occurring consistently and identified as likely candidates in the formulation of a pseudomethamphetamine. The headspace profiles of 11 methamphetamine (MA) samples were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME/GC-MS). Eighty-seven different compounds were identified from all samples. Only seven occurred consistently in all seizure samples which were: acetic acid, benzaldehyde, acetophenone, P2P, 1-phenyl 1-1, 2-propanedione (P12P), 3-phenyl-3-buten-2-one, and 1-chloro-1-phenyl-2-propanone. When the reference methamphetamine and P2P samples were included, only two compounds were common to all samples, and these were benzaldehyde and P2P. Their effectiveness in eliciting a canine response was being evaluated before deployment. Tables, graphs, and references