Predatory Drug Scopolamine in Forensic Investigations: A Mini-Review

Scopolamine (SCP) is a therapeutic drug used in treatment of motion sickness. However, it has been frequently abused in sexual assaults and robberies, as well as for recreational purposes because of its euphoric effects. In the present times, the global abuse of this drug is rapidly increasing among the youth especially in developing countries as a result of the illicit sale and purchase of SCP in India and other countries. Studies indicate that quantitative reporting of the drug in detained samples will need to be performed at the national level in the future. Therefore, development in the identification and confirmation of SCP in biological and non-biological matrices are required. In this mini-review, we present a few cases of SCP abuse in the forensic setting, its extraction, and methods of quantitative analyses.