Local laboratory analyses, problems

Until 1987, numbers of samples for tbe inter-comparison program were 10-20% of the total samples collected by the local laboratories but were unified to 20 samples for each laboratory. As a result of the 15-year inter-comparison, it has been recognised that inter-comparison is a useful tool for resolving technical problems sometimes encountered and for upgrading the quality of analysis and measurements performed by prefectural hygiene institutes/laboratories. They might also serve to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants. 

Drug abuse has become a major problem for the United States and many other countries around the world. The analysis of drugs of abuse now accounts for a major proportion of the workload of state and local forensic science laboratories. The most commonly encountered drugs of abuse at the present time are cannabis (marijuana), cocaine (crack), heroin, phencyclidine (PCP), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), amphetamines, including 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and other designer drugs. 

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