One test, 56 drugs. California crime labs can do more with less blood after toxicology upgrade
The California Department of Justice will be able to test criminal suspects and sexual assault victims for many more drugs as a result of an improvement in toxicology technology, the Attorney General’s Office announced.
The new toxicology approach combines five different drug analytical methods into one, reduces the amount of blood needed in a sample by as much as 97%, and can confirm the presence of 56 drugs in a single blood sample — a significant increase over previous test methods, which could typically only determine the presence and amount of two to seven drugs.
Among the 56 drugs that this single process can identify are fentanyl, cocaine, diazepam, ketamine, oxycodone, methamphetamine and MDMA. While previous methods were able to test for several of these drugs before, it would take several methods to do so. Now, it takes just one.
As a result, the Department of Justice will be able to better support local law enforcement in investigation impaired driving and drug-related sexual assaults, the attorney general’s office said.
“At the California Department of Justice, we’re committed to constant improvement and doing our part to better serve the people of California,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement on Friday. “This latest advancement will have a direct impact on the fight against impaired driving and sexual assault — and, ultimately, in protecting people’s lives.”
Bonta’s office said that implementation of the new process began earlier this year at the DOJ toxicology laboratory in Sacramento, which services 46 out of the state’s 58 counties, as well as statewide agencies like the California Highway Patrol.
The department spent approximately $467,000 to complete the upgrade, which was the direct result of research and development efforts by the department’s toxicology team.
The new advance comes at a time when overdoses, particularly from synthetic opioids like fentanyl, are killing thousands. More than 3,800 Californians died of fentanyl overdoses in 2020, according to preliminary death data provided by the California Department of Public Health, while opioids contributed to more than 15,600 emergency room visits that year.
The state toxicology lab will be able to test for fentanyl, and also for drugs like benzodiazepines, which are sometimes used to facilitate sexual assault, the attorney general’s office said.
The Department of Justice is in the process of hiring new staff, who will be trained on the new methodology, Bonta’s office said.
This story was originally published August 28, 2021 at 5:25 AM with the headline "One test, 56 drugs. California crime labs can do more with less blood after toxicology upgrade."