ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 September 2002
Page Count: 2

Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault Involving Gamma-Hydroxybutyric Acid
Stillwell, ME
Senior Criminalist, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Toxicology Unit, OK

(Received 2 March 2002; accepted 1 March 2002)

Abstract

The first case involving an alleged sexual assault linked to the use of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in Oklahoma is reported.A-48-year-old Caucasian woman taking amitriptyline was known to have voluntarily ingested a sports drink containing a relaxing health product. She purportedly experienced unconsciousness that persisted for approximately 4 h. The toxicological testing on urine identified GHB, amitriptyline, and nortriptyline using a capillary Hewlett-Packard 6890 gas chromatograph coupled to a Hewlett-Packard 5973 mass selective detector (MSD). The GHB concentration in urine was 26.9 µg/mL. Urine concentrations of amitriptyline and nortriptyline were not determined. The analytical method used for identifying and quantitating GHB can be applied to matters of forensic interests.

Keywords:
forensic science, abuse drugs, drugs, drug-facilitated, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), toxicology

Paper ID: JFS15523J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS15523J
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