DISPOSITION OF CODEINE IN HAIR & SALIVA: EFFECT OF GENDER & HAIR COLOR

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Hair and saliva are being proposed as alternatives to testing urine and blood for the detection of drug use. Analysis of a hair specimen is less invasive, more reliable and more sensitive than urine as an indicator of drug use, yet urine is utilized in most drug detection programs. The caveat about the use of hair analysis to detect drugs of abuse is that factors known and unknown affect the concentraton of drugs in hair. For example, Dr. Rollins and his colleagues have demonstrated that the concentration of opiates in the hair of women is substantially greater than in males. Similarly, drug concentration is greater in pigmented hair than in non-pigmented hair. Although saliva is being used increasingly for the detection of drugs of abuse, gender and race-related factors affecting drug concentration in this easily accessed body fluid have not been extensively studied. This study is designed to determine the effects of gender, hair color and ethnicity on the concentration of drugs of abuse in hair and saliva. Oflaxicin, a quinotone antibiotic, will be used as a surrogate marker for opiates.