Pharmacology of Commonly Abused Drugs

Abstract

Various drugs are abused and workplace drug testing depending on the half-life of the abused drug tests for the presence of either the abused drug or its metabolites. For example, benzoylecgonine, a major metabolite of cocaine, is tested in workplace drug testing because the half-life of cocaine is approximately 15 min. Understanding the pharmacology of various abused drugs is essential in order to interpret test results in workplace drug testing. In addition to the federal mandate of five drugs, several other abused drugs are often tested for by private employers in workplace drug testing programs. The pharmacology of these abused drugs will be discussed in this chapter.