Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2012 | Page 17

FORENSICS JOURNAL

There was a wide range of answers for the amount of time it takes to
fully examine a single marijuana case as noted in Table 1.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research was comprised of four phases: Phase I Literature Review;
Phase II Development of Survey Questionnaire; Phase III Deployment of Survey; Phase IV Survey Analysis.

Amount of Time it Takes to Examine a Single Marijuana Case
Time

10-30 Minutes 30-45 Minutes More than
45 Minutes

# Of
Responses

Phase I: Preliminary research consisted of open source review of
applicable literature. Subjects included: crimes involving use and
possession of marijuana; organization, layout, and function of forensic
crime laboratories; drug testing materials, processes, analysis, and
procedures; and the field investigation drug officer (FIDO) program
components.

14

5

4

TABLE 1: Responses from 23 laboratories on the average amount of
time it takes to fully examine a single marijuana case.

Phase II: A survey questionnaire was developed to solicit information regarding marijuana testing processes, procedures, backlogs, and
manpower requirements in forensic laboratories. The survey included
a cover letter explaining the survey’s purpose, intended use, and seven
questions as follows. (1) On average, how many drug cases does your
laboratory receive every month? (2) Of those drug cases received,
what is the approximate percent of marijuana only cases? (3) On
average how long does it take to fully examine a single item marijuana
case in your laboratory? (4) How many forensic drug chemists are
currently employed at your location? (5) Of the total number of drug
cases received per month, what is the approximate percentage of cases
containing at least one exhibit of marijuana? (6) Of the cases you
examine each month, what percent of those cases would you estimate
require testimony by the analyzing chemist? (7) On average, how
many hours a month do your forensic drug chemists spend in court
for drug cases?

Table 1 shows the responses from each laboratory on the length of
time required to examine a single marijuana case. The majority of labs
responded that it took 10-30 minutes. Each lab has different standard
operating procedures and requirements which could contribute to the
variance reported.
Maryland’s Forensic Laboratories Responses
Number of cases lab receives in One month

50-75%

Average number of Drug Chemists Employed in lab

6

Average amount of time Chemists spend in court in
1 month

11.6 hours

Average % of cases that require testimony by chemist

Phase III: A survey deployment was accomplished by sending out 35
questionnaires to forensic crime laboratories in 16 different states. The
16 states included: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, New York, Georgia, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky,
Florida, Connecticut, Arkansas, Alabama, Iowa and Montana. Of the
35 questionnaires sent, 23 responded. South Carolina, West Virginia,
New York, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, and Iowa all returned one
questionnaire. Four different labs in Maryland, three labs in North
Carolina and Arizona and two labs in Alabama, Idaho and Kentucky
returned questionnaires. This is a 65% return rate. The responses from
the questionnaires were analyzed.

100-500

Percent of Marijuana cases

Less than
10%

TABLE 2: Statistics from Maryland’s forensic crime laboratories
questionnaire responses.
Table 2 shows the statistics from the Maryland forensic laboratories
which responded to the questionnaire. The Maryland laboratories
reported that 50%-75% of the drug cases received are marijuana cases
or cases that contain at least one marijuana exhibit. On average, for
the 23 responses, there are 6 drug chemists employed in a forensic
laboratory who expend 7.6 hours a month in court for drug cases.
In contrast, Maryland’s six forensic chemists average 11.6 hours per
month in court. The responses to the questionnaire, including Maryland’s responses, indicated that less than 10% of all