Case report Identification of GHB and morphine in hair in a case of drug-facilitated sexual assault Riccardo Rossi a, *, Massimo Lancia b , Cristiana Gambelunghe b , Antonio Oliva a , Nadia Fucci a a Institute of Legal Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, L.go F. Vito, 1 00 168 - Rome, Italy b Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto snc, 06100 - Perugia, Italy 1. Introduction Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a substance naturally present in mammalian species. It has been used clinically from the 1960s as an intravenous anaesthetic, in the management of alcohol and opiate withdrawal syndromes and for a variety of purposes including the treatment of sleep disorders, depression and anxiety [1–5,14]. In 1980 this substance began to be used for illegal purposes, at first in the field of sport because of its assumed stimulating functions on the growth hormone (there are still some doubts about this) and afterwards in ‘‘rave’’ parties and in clubs due to its hallucinating effects. For 10 years there has been an increase in the use of GHB for sexual abuse [5–7,12,13]. Together with ketamine and flunitraze- pam, GHB is used in drug-facilitated crimes. Doses of 10 mg/kg cause amnesia, 20–30 mg/kg induce sleep, and doses of 50 mg/kg or higher produce anaesthesia [3,6,8]. It is attractive for rapists because it can be found easily (on the street, fitness centres, and Internet) and moreover because it can be delivered mainly as an odourless, colourless liquid and so it is often consumed unwit- tingly, mixed in spiked drinks. These drug-facilitated sexual assaults are extremely difficult to document from an analytical point of view because of the endogenous presence of gamma-hydroxybutyrate in biological human fluid, its narrow detection window and the powerful sedative effects of the molecule [9,10]. In fact, 24 h after the alleged assault, the victim’s urine has generally a normal physiological level of GHB [9]. To address a response to this caveat, hair was suggested as a valuable specimen. Several studies have proved the efficacy of hair analysis, in highlighting both single doses of GHB and multiple exposures over time [3,6,9]. In this study the authors present the case of a 24-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted after unintentional intake of GHB and morphine. The analytic findings obtained by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry analysis of hair samples demonstrated exposure to GHB and morphine. Based on the hair analysis and the girl’s history authors’ conclusions are that it is very likely she was assaulted after deceptive exposure to GHB and morphine. 1.1. Case history A 24-year-old girl had been studying abroad for about 1 year. During this period she met a young man who became her boyfriend. During the whole year abroad sometime she woke up with a strong headache and nausea and noticed some small abrasions on one arm, similar to pricks (punctures). Despite all this she was not too worried. She thought her confused state of mind was due to the fact Forensic Science International 186 (2009) e9–e11 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 6 May 2008 Received in revised form 20 January 2009 Accepted 25 January 2009 Available online 3 March 2009 Keywords: GHB Hair analysis GC/MS Drug-facilitated sexual assault ABSTRACT The authors present the case of a 24-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted after administration of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and morphine. She had been living in an international college for foreign students for about 1 year and often complained of a general unhealthy feeling in the morning. At the end of the college period she returned to Italy and received at home some video clips shot by a mobile phone camera. In these videos she was having sex with a boy she met when she was studying abroad. Toxicological analysis of her hair was done: the hair was 20-cm long. A 2/3-cm segmentation of all the length of the hair was performed. Morphine and GHB were detected in hair segments related to the period of time she was abroad. The analyses of hair segments were performed by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and the concentration of morphine and GHB were calculated. A higher value of GHB was found in the period associated with the possible criminal activity and was also associated with the presence of morphine in the same period. ß 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 06 35507031; fax: +39 06 35507033. E-mail address: riccardo.rossi@rm.unicatt.it (R. Rossi). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forensic Science International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint 0379-0738/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.01.017