Determination of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in human amniotic fluid using high flow solid-phase extraction columns and HPLC.

A new solid-phase extraction procedure for the determination of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in amniotic fluid, using high flow co-polymeric sorbents is reported. The recoveries of cocaine and benzoylecgonine within the range 0.1-1 mg/l were 95.7% and 50.3%, respectively. The use of high-flow sorbents allowed the easy extraction of amniotic fluid regardless of sample viscosity or physical nature. The use of these solid-phase columns provided many advantages over the more commonly used solvent extraction, including an increase in extraction speed and efficiency, reduced operator time, reduced solvent use and disposal volumes and exceptional extract quality. Further, the determination of amniotic fluid obtained from pregnant cocaine users may provide important information about handling of cocaine by the fetus at various gestational ages. The procedure was successfully applied to amniotic fluid from suspected cocaine abusers.     

Crime,detection rate,and the police: A macro approach

Dutch criminality and its relation to the performance of police and justice have only recently been analyzed at the macro level (e.g., at the level of municipalities or the whole country). This type of approach is a useful supplement to analyses at the micro level (that of individuals), which are more common in Dutch empirical criminological research. The main results of such a macro approach are presented in this article. We conclude that the per capita numbers of youth, divorced people, and unemployed contribute significantly to the crime rate. The police strength and solving rates are important factors as well. Analysis of the production process of the police reveals that detecting one more case of driving under the influence is far more expensive than solving one more other crime or handling one more traffic accident. The results are combined to sketch a cost-benefit approach of different strategies in allocating more resources to the police. Allocating extra resources to solving more cases of vandalism gives the best cost-benefit ratio.