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Walsh, Simone (2010) The State Laboratory annual report 2008. Drugnet Ireland, Issue 33, Spring 2010, p. 26.

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‘The State Laboratory provides an analytical and advisory service to Government departments and offices to support their policies, regulatory programmes and strategic objectives’.1 The laboratory's annual report for 2008 outlines the progress made in achieving its objectives in four strategic areas: agriculture and food, Revenue, the Coroner Service and other departments, and the modernisation agenda and operational capacity.2  

The human toxicology department of the laboratory provides services to the Coroner Service, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Agriculture and other bodies such as the Irish Medicines Board. Between 2007 and 2008 the laboratory saw a 6% increase in the number of samples received for analysis. The laboratory extended its analytical capacity in 2008 with the development of a number of new methods of analysis.
 
The number of post-mortem samples analysed for the Coroner Service which were positive for cocaine remained high, indicating the widespread use of the drug. Requests for post-mortem analysis of benzylpiperazine (BZP) were encountered for the first time by the laboratory. BZP (also known as legal ecstasy) is an amphetamine-type drug which, until March 2009, could be purchased legally in Ireland in the form of party pills. In 2009, legislation was passed making BZP and related compounds illicit substances under the Schedule of Controlled Substances in the Misuse of Drugs Act.
 
The goal of the laboratory with regard to the Coroner Service remains that of providing a timely, high­-quality service and to meet present and future demands in areas such as forensic toxicology, health and safety compliance, and environment and heritage protection.
 
1. The State Laboratory (2008) Annual report 2007. Kildare: The State Laboratory.
2. The State Laboratory (2009) Annual report 2008. Kildare: The State Laboratory. www.statelab.ie/PDF/AnnRep2008.pdf
Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
Substances (not alcohol/tobacco)
Intervention Type
Screening / Assessment
Issue Title
Issue 33, Spring 2010
Date
19 April 2010
Page Range
p. 26
Publisher
Health Research Board
Volume
Issue 33, Spring 2010
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