Associations Between Self‐Reported Cocaine Use Patterns and Cocaine and Its Metabolites in Hair: Implications for Clinical and Forensic Practices

Abstract

In forensic toxicology, it has been debated if hair testing allows an estimation of the intensity of cocaine use—an assumption that may have risen because self‐reports in a forensic setting are of uncertain validity per se. We therefore investigated the relationship between self‐reported cocaine use and cocaine hair concentrations (including its main metabolites benzoylecgonine and norcocaine) in chronic cocaine users voluntary participating in psychiatric study settings. Additionally, we tested whether hair testing can distinguish be Show more