Journal de recherche médico-légale

The Structural Complexities of Cannabis sativa L. and Profiling Techniques for Geographic Source Determination

Abstract

Danise Rivera, Ashraf Mozayani, Esther Obi and Jasmine M. Drake

Marijuana is the most widespread abused, trafficked, and consumed drug in America. Although according to federal law, the use, consumption, and distribution of marijuana are illegal, approximately two-thirds of the State Governments in the U.S. and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational purposes. Due to the passing of new controversial marijuana legislation at the state levels of government, which started with the passing of Amendments 64 and Initiative 502, respectively, in Colorado and Washington in 2012, the federal government is faced with many challenges associated with enforcing and preventing the illegal diversion of marijuana and marijuana products. Although state legislation may be passed to legalize marijuana for particular jurisdictions, under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), distribution and possession of marijuana is still illegal on a federal level, and marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. Controlling the distribution and trafficking of “legalized marijuana” to minors and improper channels is also a major challenge that law enforcement now faces. However, to date, no extensive registry (chemical nor DNA) or tracking system has been implemented to prevent the diversion of these products to neighbouring states, where the consumption or distribution of these materials remain illegal on the state level. Although the legal requirement in most countries in the identification of marijuana is limited to the confirmation of the presence of cannabinoids (THC) and cystolithic hairs on leaves, several techniques have been published and implemented to investigate the origin of marijuana samples (including palynology, DNA profiling, chemical profiling and isotopic analysis.

In this paper, the chemical complexities of C. sativa L. are presented along with an overview of profiling techniques, which have been proposed for geographical source determination of marijuana. This may provide the forensic community with insight regarding the use of different profiling methods as potential tools in assessing the identification and origin of cannabis samples to support interdiction efforts. Additionally, this study can provide forensic practitioners with relevant information about specificity, discriminatory power, scope, and limitations of different profiling methods for the determination of source origin of marijuana samples. Chemical profiling is proposed as an efficient, robust, and reliable method, which may be a powerful tool for identifying the source of seized Marijuana evidence. Ultimately, chemical profiling techniques may offer forensic laboratories a path forward in establishing links between grow operations, trafficking routes and supply chains, which can ultimately assist in interdiction efforts.