Criminology

The speaker in the video was Dr. Richard Saferstein,. He is the former Chief Forensic Scientist in the New Jersey State Polive Laboratory. He was the best person to ask about such things since he knows a lot when it comes to this. He defined forensic toxicology as the study of the human body for the presence of drugs and poisons. Organic samples such as blood and urine are used to determine what foreign drugs are present in the body. In the US, all states emply a legal blood alcohol limit of 0.08. This serves as the basis for the state to prove in terms of what determines to get a conviction for drinking and driving.  When asked how long is alcohol detectable in a persons body, he said that it depends of how much alcohol a person drinks. A human being normally eliminates alcohol at a rate of 0.015 per hour.  So when a person reaches a level of 0.08 percent, its going to take  more than 5 hours to eliminate the 0.08 percent blood alcohol present in the body.

People who are thought to be under the influence of alcohol while driving are asked to stopped and be interviewed. The police officer will first look the general demeanor of the driver. When in doubt, the driver is asked to do a breath test by a breath testing device. The person simply blows into it and a reading appears. If that reading exceeds the limit of 0.08, which is in this case in the US, the person will be brought back to the police station for further investigation. In the police station, he might also be tested by blood test in which a blood sample is taken from him and tested for alcohol content. Intoxicated drivers who are under 21 face harsher penalties under zero tolerance laws of the US. .A persons hair can also be tested for drug content. When a person takes a drug, a portion of it is attached in the root structure of human hair, and will remain embedded as it grows. In CSI, the common poisons which they look for are carbon monoxide, cyanide and thallium. These are the most common non-drug poisons.