by Denise Purdie Andrews | Nov 6, 2025 | Announcements, Drug Classes
In October 2025, toxicologist Kevin Shanks made presentations at both the National Association of Medical Examiners 2025 Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and at the Society of Forensic Toxicologists 2025 Conference in Portland, Oregon. NAME 2025 Recap:...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Oct 17, 2025 | Drug Classes
By Stuart Kurtz, D-ABFT-FT Axis Forensic Toxicology has previously written on kratom and cases involving kratom fatalities. As a quick recap, Mitragyna speciosa, is a tree or shrub that grows in southeast Asia. It’s part of the Rubiaceae family which includes coffee...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Aug 8, 2025 | Drug Classes
By Kevin Shanks, M.S., D-ABFT-FT We have previously discussed both fentanyl and 4-ANPP in this blog (1-2), but briefly, fentanyl is a mu opioid receptor agonist that is used as both a pharmaceutical medication and as an illicit drug found on the street typically as a...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Jul 2, 2025 | Drug Classes
By Kevin Shanks, M.S., D-ABFT-FT As mentioned in several previous posts on this blog, novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are arranged into different families. Opioids, cannabinoids, stimulants, hallucinogens, and benzodiazepines are the main ones we encounter in...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Jun 5, 2025 | Drug Classes
By Kevin Shanks, M.S., D-ABFT-FT As we have discussed on this blog several times in the past, novel psychoactive substances (NPS) come in different varieties, which include cannabinoids, stimulants, opioids, benzodiazepines, and hallucinogens. One of Axis Forensic...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | May 12, 2025 | Announcements, Drug Classes
At this year’s MATT meeting, Dr. Laureen Marinetti spoke to attendees about how to differentiate between ketamine used illicitly versus ketamine used medically. She also discussed the origin of medical and illicit ketamine. Ketamine was developed in 1962 for use as...
