Poppy Seed Consumption or Opiate Use: The Determination of Thebaine and Opiates of Abuse in Postmortem Fluids and Tissues : Final Report

Publication Title: Poppy Seed Consumption or Opiate Use: The Determination of Thebaine and Opiates of Abuse in Postmortem Fluids and Tissues : Final Report

Subject: Aircraft accidents
Analysis
Autopsy
Human factors
methods
Morphine Derivatives
Narcotics
Opioid peptides
Thebaine

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Abstract: Thebaine is a naturally occurring opiate that is introduced into the body, along with morphine and codeine, following the consumption of poppy seeds. Scientific literature has clearly demonstrated the distinct possibility of a morphine and/or codeine positive due to poppy seed consumption. The potential legal consequences of an opiate positive necessitates that laboratories, both drug testing and forensic, differentiate between an opiate positive due to morphine or codeine use and an opiate positive due to poppy seed consumption. Identification and quantitation of opiates in postmortem fluids and tissues are important aspects of forensic toxicology and may provide crucial information in determining the cause of impairment and/or death. This report describes a rapid, automated procedure for the single-step extraction and simultaneous determination of hydrocodone, dihydrocodeine, codeine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, 6-MAM, morphine, and thebaine in postmortem fluids and tissues using a Zymark RapidTrace automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) system and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry.