2: Forensic Pharmacology
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Published:14 Jul 2016
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Special Collection: RSC eTextbook CollectionProduct Type: Textbooks
N. J. Langford, in Forensic Toxicology: Drug Use and Misuse, ed. S. Davies, A. Johnston, and D. Holt, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016, pp. 30-43.
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For substances to have an effect they are required to interact with some part of the body. This may be topically or systemically. The degree of effect the drug has is dependent on the amount of exposure. For most drugs this will require the substance to be absorbed into the systemic circulation and then distributed around the body and to its site of action. Once in the body, metabolic processes are in place to try and eliminate the drug from the body. This chapter considers these processes and looks at some of the circumstances where normal chemical pathways may be altered.