Abstract:
The opium classes of narcotic drugs are considered not only as the most potent and clinically
useful agents causing depression of central nervous system, but also as very strong analgesics.
Morphine and morphine- like drugs (codeine, 6-MAM, methadone and ketamine) are referred
to as opioids or opiates. Morphine and related drugs possessing potent narcotic analgesic properties are used in clinical practice. The use of the opioid alkaloids can be accompanied by
significant adverse effects. Therefore, Narcotics are tested to screen for multiple abuse drugs simultaneously. Unless, abuse drugs tested to monitor someone with a substance abuse problem,
monitor compliance with prescribed medications or to detect and evaluate drug intoxication or
overdose. In recent past several causes received from low enforcement agencies to the forensic
Toxicology Laboratory, Government Analyst’s Department for qualitative analysis of narcotic
drugs in blood and urine samples. A rapid, selective, sensitive and specific method was developed to simultaneously identify morphine, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), codeine, ketamine and methadone in human blood and urine by gas chromatography mass spectrometry.
The drugs were extracted with phosphate buffer at pH 6, followed by solid-phase extraction
(SPE). Retention time of morphine, codeine, methadone, ketamine and 6-MAM were about
15.478, 15.161, 13.570, 11.528, 15.966 min respectively. The chromatographic separation was
performed using HP5ms column. Injection mode of the GC/MS was splitless. Linear regression correlation coefficients of the calibration curves were >0.993 for the five narcotic drugs.
The limit of detections and limit of quantifications ranged from 0.5 to 20 µg/mL and from
2.17 to 32.33 µg/mL respectively for five narcotic drugs. The relative standard deviations were
less than for 6.07% for 30 µg/mL morphine and 10 µg/mL ketamine, 6-MAM, methadone and
codeine. The method is fast, simple and accurate with the sensitivity and specificity required
in forensic and clinical toxicology. The method was validated as per guideline on Scientific
Working Group for Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) as linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of
detection, limit of quantification and recovery. The above method was toward acceptable, hence
successfully applied in the qualitative analysis of narcotic drugs in test samples which sent to
Toxicology Laboratory, Government Analyst’s Department in Sri Lanka.
