G Volonnino, R La Russa, N Di Fazio, M Ottaviani, M V Zamponi, F Spadazzi, F Umani-Ronchi
{"title":"Z-Drugs and their use in Drug-Facilitated Crimes: a review of the literature.","authors":"G Volonnino, R La Russa, N Di Fazio, M Ottaviani, M V Zamponi, F Spadazzi, F Umani-Ronchi","doi":"10.7417/CT.2023.2465","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Z-Drugs are a category of non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drugs that include Zolpidem, Zopiclone and Zaleplon. They are all rapidly adsorbed and have a very short half- life, features that make them first-line treatment of insomnia and, in the meantime, first-choice drugs in cases of poisoning for criminal purposes. Z-drugs are frequently use in Drug Facilitated Crime cases (DFC) and Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA), namely crimes, robberies, extortion and sexual violence committed after administration of incapacitating substances able to induce sedative-hypnotic effects. In these circumstances, the psychoactive substance is considered as a weapon and constitutes an aggravating circumstance in the criminal act: accordingly, judicial authority legitimates the analytical determination of these substances. Currently, few tests able to detect such drugs are available in daily clinical practice.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim of this work is to evaluate the effective utilization of Z-Drugs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We have analyzed the literature, focusing on cases in which the criminal use of such incapacitating substances has been demonstrated. Relevant scientific articles were identified from PubMed, Cochrane Central, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, EMBASE up to December 2022 using the following keywords: \"z-drugs\", \"drug facilitated crime\", \"forensic toxicology\". The resulting references were screened to exclude duplicates. In addition, non-English papers were excluded. This evaluation left 10 articles (8 case reports and 2 original studies) divided as follows: 1 case report of a DFC (robbery), 6 cases of confirmed DFSA, 3 cases of suspected DFSA, 2 original studies about DFC.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The totality of the selected cases showed positive toxicological tests for a single intake of z-drugs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This work has shown the limitations of screening tests currently in use in the emergency rooms. Forensic toxicology tests should be introduced in daily clinical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":7999,"journal":{"name":"Annali di igiene : medicina preventiva e di comunita","volume":"174 5","pages":"451-468"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annali di igiene : medicina preventiva e di comunita","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.7417/CT.2023.2465","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Z-Drugs are a category of non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drugs that include Zolpidem, Zopiclone and Zaleplon. They are all rapidly adsorbed and have a very short half- life, features that make them first-line treatment of insomnia and, in the meantime, first-choice drugs in cases of poisoning for criminal purposes. Z-drugs are frequently use in Drug Facilitated Crime cases (DFC) and Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA), namely crimes, robberies, extortion and sexual violence committed after administration of incapacitating substances able to induce sedative-hypnotic effects. In these circumstances, the psychoactive substance is considered as a weapon and constitutes an aggravating circumstance in the criminal act: accordingly, judicial authority legitimates the analytical determination of these substances. Currently, few tests able to detect such drugs are available in daily clinical practice.
Aim: The aim of this work is to evaluate the effective utilization of Z-Drugs.
Methods: We have analyzed the literature, focusing on cases in which the criminal use of such incapacitating substances has been demonstrated. Relevant scientific articles were identified from PubMed, Cochrane Central, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, EMBASE up to December 2022 using the following keywords: "z-drugs", "drug facilitated crime", "forensic toxicology". The resulting references were screened to exclude duplicates. In addition, non-English papers were excluded. This evaluation left 10 articles (8 case reports and 2 original studies) divided as follows: 1 case report of a DFC (robbery), 6 cases of confirmed DFSA, 3 cases of suspected DFSA, 2 original studies about DFC.
Results: The totality of the selected cases showed positive toxicological tests for a single intake of z-drugs.
Conclusions: This work has shown the limitations of screening tests currently in use in the emergency rooms. Forensic toxicology tests should be introduced in daily clinical practice.
背景：Z-Drugs是一类非苯二氮卓类镇静催眠药物，包括唑吡坦、佐匹克隆和扎勒普隆。它们都能迅速吸收，半衰期很短，这使它们成为失眠的一线治疗药物，同时也是犯罪中毒的首选药物。Z-毒品经常用于毒品协助犯罪案件（DFC）和毒品协助性侵犯案件（DFSA），即在服用能够诱导镇静催眠作用的致残物质后实施的犯罪、抢劫、勒索和性暴力。在这种情况下，精神活性物质被视为一种武器，构成犯罪行为中的加重情节：因此，司法当局使对这些物质的分析确定合法化。目前，在日常临床实践中，能够检测出此类药物的测试很少。目的：这项工作的目的是评估Z-Drugs的有效利用。方法：我们分析了文献，重点是已经证明犯罪使用此类致残物质的案例。截至2022年12月，相关科学文章使用以下关键词从PubMed、Cochrane Central、Scopus、Web of Science、Science Direct、EMBASE中检索到：“z毒品”、“毒品促成犯罪”、“法医毒理学”。筛选得到的参考文献以排除重复。此外，非英语论文也被排除在外。这项评估留下了10篇文章（8例病例报告和2项原始研究），分为：1例DFC（抢劫）病例报告，6例确诊DFSA，3例疑似DFSA，2项关于DFC的原始研究。结果：所有选定的病例对单次摄入z药物的毒理学测试呈阳性。结论：这项工作表明了目前在急诊室使用的筛查测试的局限性。应在日常临床实践中引入法医毒理学测试。
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