NCJ Number
128091
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1991) Pages: 93-103
Date Published
1991
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Experiments were conducted with samples of Colombian and Bolivian coca paste to generate baseline data on the chemical composition of samples to be used in future toxicological research. Preliminary smoking experiments with coca paste-laced cigarettes were also performed.
Abstract
Gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC/FID) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were used to analyze a neutral and acid fraction and a basic fraction which was also analyzed as its trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivative. The analyses detected several gasoline residue components in the neutral fraction as well as the proportion of cocaine and all alkaloids in the other samples. While no samples contained lead, most of the Colombian samples contained some amount of manganese. The preliminary smoking experiments, using a sample of Colombian coca paste, indicated that the drug behaves more like free cocaine than like a cocaine sulfate salt. 5 tables, 5 figures, and 14 references (Author abstract modified)