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The Scientific Working
Group for the Analysis of
Seized Drugs
The mission of the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis
of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG) is to recommend minimum
standards for the forensic examination of seized drugs and
seek their international acceptance. SWGDRUG is a cooperative
effort between the DEA’s Office of Forensic Sciences
and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to
address the following:
¨ Recommend minimum standards for forensic drug analysts’
knowledge, skills, and abilities.
¨ Promote the professional development of forensic drug
analysts.
¨ Provide a means of information exchange within the forensic
drug analyst community.
¨ Promote the highest ethical standards of practitioners
in all areas of forensic drug analysis.
¨ Recommend minimum standards for drug examinations
and reporting.
¨ Establish quality assurance recommendations.
¨ Seek international acceptance of SWGDRUG minimum
standards.
The SWGDRUG core committee is comprised of representatives
from federal laboratories and regional forensic science
associations in the United States, the European Network
of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), the United
Nations Drug Control Program, Australia, Great Britain, Japan,
Canada and Germany. A forensic science educator and
a representative from an internationally recognized standards
writing organization also participate on the committee.
The SWGDRUG process evolved since 1997 to be recognized
as one of the most successful scientific working
groups in the world.
Sub-Regional Laboratories
and Mobile Operations
DEA’s first sub-regional laboratory became operational in FY
1997 in support of the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area (HIDTA). This laboratory was established to bring
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analytical and support services closer to the source of illicit
drug activity—clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine.
In 1999, the laboratory was relocated from the Food and Drug
Laboratory in Kansas City, Kansas, to the Kansas City Regional
Crime Laboratory in Kansas City, Missouri.
In Fiscal Year 1999, DEA opened a second sub-regional laboratory
in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This laboratory provides
analytical and support services to the Caribbean Division as
well as other federal agencies within the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico. This laboratory is collocated with the Food and
Drug Administration Laboratory.
In Fiscal Year 2000, DEA took delivery of a 38-foot mobile
laboratory. Equipped with a fume hood, bench space, support
infrastructure, and appropriate analytical instrumentation, the
laboratory is capable of operation by either shore-power
through a 100 amp, 200 volt shore line or an on-board diesel
generator. In early 2001, the mobile laboratory was deployed
to Tucson, Arizona, where two chemists provided additional
forensic support along the Southwest Border of the United
States. In late 2002, the mobile laboratory was moved to El
Paso, Texas to provide much needed forensic laboratory support
in that region.
Microgram
The 35 th Anniversary Issue of Microgram was published in
2002. This periodical has progressed from a sporadically
published “communication” from the Bureau of Drug Abuse
Control and Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in
the late 1960s to the dawn of electronic posting by the DEA
in the 21 st century. By 2003, over 1,400 offices around the
world received Microgram each month.
In FY 2002, the Office of Forensic Sciences determined that
there was a need to convert Microgram into two separate
publications entitled Microgram Bulletin and Microgram Journal.
Microgram Bulletin includes all the material previously
included in Microgram, except scientific articles. Additional
and/or expanded information was also incorporated into Microgram
Bulletin. Microgram Journal is a quarterly journal
dedicated solely to the publication of scientific articles on
the detection and analysis of suspected controlled substances
for forensic/law enforcement purposes. It was the intent of
the Editor and the Office of Forensic Sciences that Microgram
Journal become a premier scientific journal in this discipline.
Additionally, starting with the January 2003 issues, the Bulletin
and the Journal moved from a law enforcement restricted
status to an open, unclassified status, and both were posted
on DEA’s Internet website.