title: Distribution of methamphetamine and amphetamine in drug abusers' head hair.
abstract: In order to aid the interpretation of hair results from methamphetamine (MA) abusers the MA and amphetamine (AP) concentrations in 2070 hair samples were statistically evaluated. The MA and AP concentrations in hair were put into three groups arbitrarily representing low, medium and high ranges and the metabolite-to-parent drug ratios of each group were examined. The concentration ranges proposed here were also applied to the interpretation of five authentic cases. The low, medium and high ranges of MA were 0.5-4.2, 4.2-24.5 and 24.5-608.9 ng/mg and those of AP were 0.1-0.4, 0.4-1.7 and 1.7-41.4 ng/mg. The AP-to-MA ratios showed large variation but a tendency that it decreased as the MA ranges increased. This evaluation was very useful to presume the severity of individuals' MA abuse and to provide law enforcement agencies more understandable information. It could also facilitate the court's decision regarding specific circumstances surrounding the drug-related crimes.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Scientific Investigation, 331-1 Sinwol-7-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 158-707, Republic of Korea. sylee21@nisi.go.kr
authors.forename: Sooyeun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eunyoung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Yonghoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hwakyung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Heesun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000032:analysis*; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000032:analysis*; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008694:Methamphetamine; D000661:Amphetamine