Managing Drug-Impaired Driving

 Willow Grove, Pennsylvania toxicologist and PhD graduate Barry Logan has served as executive director for the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education for more than ten years. Toxicologist Barry Logan has devoted his professional life to researching the impact of certain types of drugs on human behavior. He specializes in designer drugs, synthetic cannabinoids, and drug-impaired driving.

Drug-impaired driving is driving under the influence, even if the substance of choice is alcohol, heroin, or marijuana. Drugged driving continues to raise serious public safety concerns, with cases of fatal traffic-related deaths rising.

Reducing the number of persons driving while intoxicated remains a priority in the United States. And while statistics indicate that driving under the influence has diminished over the years, the National Highway Traffic Administration reports suggest that many individuals are still under the influence of other drugs.

Various organizations have worked to reduce drug-impaired driving and introduced strategies such as alcohol-impaired driving laws, sobriety checkpoints, high-visibility saturation patrols, and assessment and treatment programs.

However, some organizations, like the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) - in collaboration with forensic laboratories and law enforcement - are managing drug-impaired driving through research and formulation of evidence-based public policy for screening and testing drivers.

How Biological Substances Are Measured through Assays

 Dr. Barry Logan is a forensic toxicologist who serves as executive director of the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education and chief scientist with NMS Labs. Among the solutions offered by toxicologist Dr. Barry Logan and his team are bioanalysis and novel assay validations that meet the product development needs of clinical researchers.

Assays encompass any process that involves analysis of a particular substance, as a way of ascertaining quality or composition. Within the mining industry, this substance will be minerals or ore, while in the pharmaceutical sphere, it encompasses specific therapeutic combinations. When it comes to biological laboratories, assays are split into three categories.

Bioassays provide data on biological activity triggered by specific stimuli, ligand-binding assays measure the binding between a receptor and a ligand (molecule that binds to other molecules), and immunoassays focus on antibody-antigen binding detection. Common to all of these in vitro (outside the body) assays is a process of collecting a test sample of biological material and preparing it within a culture dish or test tube. The sample is often purified, in a process that removes unwanted substances and eliminates background interference.

Among the techniques then used for analysis are ultracentrifugation, filtration, and selective binding. After the sample is introduced into a controlled environment, signals are measured within the chosen detection system.

Testing Type Services from National Medical Services Inc

 A clinical toxicologist with over 30 years of experience, Barry Logan serves as senior vice president of forensic science initiatives at National Medical Services, Inc. (NMS Labs). In this role, Barry Logan oversees toxicologist case reviews and provides expert testimony in court cases involving alcohol or drugs.

NMS Labs’ forensics testing services comply with multiple standards and accommodate many object submission types. It accepts biological and nonbiological samples and can create reports suited for criminal and civil litigation. Its legal experts can guide clients through the process of exhibiting evidence collected through NMS Labs for court cases, and its experts can identify legal pharmaceutical drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPSs).

Other testing types that NMS Labs performs include its clinical toxicology arm that can process uncommon diagnostic tests, unavailable on-hand at hospitals. NMS Labs’ pharmaceutical testing capacities can determine a drug’s safety for consumers and execute consumer product safety testing.

CSFRE and TJU Offer MS in Forensic Toxicology

 Barry Logan is a world-renowned toxicologist with expertise in postmortem forensic toxicology and designer drugs. He serves as the senior vice president of the forensic science initiatives at NMS Labs. Concurrently, toxicologist Barry Logan is an executive director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CSFRE).

In 2018, the CSFRE partnered with Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) to initiate the Master of Science in Forensic Toxicology program at the university. The two-year (six-semester) specialized program was established to promote the availability of trained and qualified forensic toxicologists in the United States. The program offers quality training and access to quality forensic laboratory tools. Qualified mentors provide expert instruction, and these mentors are renowned forensic toxicology professors.

Students receive instructions on key aspects of toxicology, analytical chemistry, forensic investigation, and interpretation, which form integral aspects of the coursework offered in the program. A candidate must have completed a graduate-level research program to be eligible for the MS program.

Driving Under the Influence of Synthetic Cannabinoids

 

Barry Logan earned a PhD in forensic toxicology from the University of Glasgow. He occupies executive roles as a forensic toxicologist with NMS Labs and the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education. Toxicologist Barry Logan is also an industry expert in designer drugs such as “bath salts” and synthetic cannabinoids.

Synthetic cannabinoids are addictive and toxic psychoactive chemicals illegally manufactured to mimic the effects of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the principle psychoactive chemical in cannabis. When mixed with other chemicals like stimulants or opioids, synthetic cannabinoids exhibit a more severe psychoactive potency compared to natural THC. Synthetic cannabinoids can dull focus while driving due to their sedative effects. The chemicals also impair or delay motor response. Due to their cannabis-like performance deficit effect, synthetic cannabinoids do not facilitate safe driving. Consequently, driving under the influence of synthetic cannabinoids is illegal in the United States.

One case of synthetic cannabinoid impaired driving was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in 2014. The study featured a drug-impaired driver who caused a traffic collision. The driver displayed a blank stare for several minutes immediately following the impact, and was unable to respond verbally to questions at that time. A DRE examination of the driver also found a low body temperature.

TIAFT Talks Synthetic Cannabinoids

An accomplished toxicologist who has been in the field for more than 30 years, Dr. Barry Logan serves as chief scientist/senior vice president of forensic science initiatives for National Medical Services (NMS) Labs and executive director of the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE). Dr. Barry Logan is also a member of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT).

Earlier this year, TIAFT issued an alert concerning synthetic cannabinoids found to be causing severe health complications, and in one case death, in the Czech Republic. The synthetic in question is referred to as “Bakiba,” and it has been suspected that some 3,000 doses were circulated throughout the city of Ostrava and the surrounding area in the month of September. As of late September, authorities had made six arrests and confiscated 40 packs of the drugs.

Toxicologists in the region have been urged to be on the lookout for these types of intoxicants. The issue, however, isn’t limited to the Czech Republic. Synthetic cannabinoid is found in the United States and is used by both high school students and adults. These drugs are dangerous and the risk of harm is 30 times greater than that of actual marijuana. Increased use means that toxicologists in the US should also be cognizant of these drugs when performing toxicological analyses.

Searching for the True Nature of W-18

As the senior vice president of forensic science initiatives at NMS Labs, toxicologist Dr. Barry Logan investigates and reports on developments in drug chemistry and use. Toxicologist Dr. Barry Logan also serves as the executive director of the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, through which he publishes on drugs such as W-18.

Developed in the 1980s as a painkiller but never tested in human trials, W-18 reemerged several years ago as a designer street drug. Significant numbers of overdoses suggested that the drug was an extremely lethal opioid, more than 1000 times stronger than fentanyl. 

Researchers later discovered that W-18 was not an opioid at all. It has no effect on opioid receptors or psychoactive drug receptors, a fact that explains early reports of the ineffectiveness of the overdose antidote drug naloxone. Scientists have called for additional research to determine how W-18 works and why it has been connected with so many overdose deaths.