Drug Identification Section

The purpose of the Drug Identification Section is to analyze and identify any suspected controlled substances that are submitted to the Laboratory from city, county, state, and federal police agencies.

Evidence is analyzed, in two a step process. First, the substance is subjected to a series of preliminary tests. These tests give an indication of what the substance might be and suggest a path for further analysis. The second step is to positive identification of the substance, and to do this, we utilize two different instruments - the Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer - both are equally specific and either can be used for this identification.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

A Bachelor of Science Degree in a natural science with an emphasis on Chemistry is required.