Evaluating Scientific Evidence for Hair and Drug Testing

Evaluating Scientific Evidence for Hair and Drug Testing

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Good advice on questioning the results of tests. Not as interested in hair morphology.

Is the use of the words "negroid" and "mongoloid" necessary? This isn't meant to be a "politically correct" issue. These three categorizations of race are no longer anthropologically accepted, and the courts have sought to distance the judiciary from categorizations based on an anacrhonistic grouping of individuals based on perceived similar physical characteristics. Indeed, attempting to categorize persons into three, or in some instances four, "races" is a social rather than scientific construct. It detracts from the course which provides some decent information and sources to reference when arguing a case but spends too much energy on the more technical aspects of hair and not enough on the practical application of the growing body of scientific concensus regarding how toxicology results could be discriminatorily applied. As an aside, skipping over the aspect of things such as the presence of heavy metals (example taken from a slide) in hair is a disservice to criminal application of this information.

Not sure there is enough here for a while CLE.