Simple Laboratory Test for the Determination of the Chemical Form of Cocaine

• NCJ Number: 118072
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 34 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1989) Pages: 678-681
• Author(s): B K Logan; H S Nichols; D T Stafford
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The authors describe a simple chemical test to determine whether a suspect specimen contains cocaine and if so whether it is present as free base cocaine or in salt form.

Abstract

The distinction is based on the relative solubility of the two compounds in aqueous or organic solvent. The test, based on widely accepted cobalt thiocyanate color reaction, is performed in three stages to make the interpretation as complete as possible. (Author abstract)