ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 3

An Indoor Air Quality-Pharmacokinetic Simulation of Passive Inhalation of Marijuana Smoke and the Resultant Buildup of 11-Nor-Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol-9-Carboxylic Acid in Urine
Giardino, NJ
Staff toxicologist, Armstrong Laboratory, Occupational Environmental Medicine and Health, Brooks Air Force Base, TX

(Received 10 May 1996; accepted 7 August 1996)

Abstract

In military courts of law, the good soldier defense is often used by the defendant to explain the presence of 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid in urine (hereafter referred to as THCA) above the Department of Defense (DOD) established limit of 15 ng/mL. The defense will contend the defendant unwittingly breathed side-stream marijuana smoke, thus resulting in the presence of THCA in the defendant's urine. The purpose of this work was to link an indoor air quality model (IAQ) with a pharmacokinetic (PK) model to predict a passive marijuana smoker's resultant concentration of the major urinary metabolite THCA.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic toxicology, modeling, passive inhalation, 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid, urinalysis

Paper ID: JFS14121J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14121J
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