Opioids, Science and the Law: How High is Too High?

Attorneys not only encounter opioids in everyday news. Criminal attorneys hear of these drugs on a much too regular basis when it comes to impairment, fatalities, and street drug dealings. What pearls of science do attorneys need to know about these drugs? How do they work? How do they poison and take the lives of so many? Where do they fit into postmortem cases? Where is fentanyl found? How does naloxone work and when does it work and when does it not? 

Taught by board-certified toxicologist Allison Muller and criminal law attorney Joseph Lesniak, this program will provide attorneys with a crash course on the science of opioids, including insights for the use of toxicology evidence in the courtroom.

Learning Objectives:

1. List three effects of opioids on the body
2. State two examples of unexpected sources of opioids
3. Describe one example of a drug that can intensify opioid toxicity
4. Explain pitfalls in interpreting drug screen results as they relate to opioids
5. List two reasons for the presence of morphine in the blood