Citation

Smith RM, Nelsen LA. J. Forensic Sci. 1991; 36(1): 280-287.

Affiliation

Wisconsin Department of Justice Crime Laboratory, Madison.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1826129

Abstract

The traditional folk medicine of the Hmong and other Southeast Asian refugees has accompanied them during their immigration in this country over the past two decades. In two recent cases involving Hmong defendants, unknown solids, resembling charcoal in consistency and purported to be "backache remedies," were analyzed and found to be complex mixtures of aspirin, acetaminophen, caffeine and partly acetylated opium. In particular, significant amounts of acetylacetaminophen, 3-O-acetylmorphine, 6-O-acetylcodeine, 6-O-acetylmorphine, and heroin were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Heating approximately equal weights of solid opium, aspirin, and acetaminophen at 130 degrees C for several hours produced a mixture of compounds showing a similar acetylation pattern.

Language: en