Investigating the presence of drugs of abuse in oral fluid using surface enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a possible application for a roadside screening device.

There is an increasing demand from politicians and the general public for a roadside screening device for the detection of drug drivers. A method of qualitatively determining a major illicit drug group and its associated metabolites present in oral fluid using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is presented. Experimental results for amphetamines and substituted amphetamines will be discussed. Details of sampling, sample preparation and experimental method used to validate this technique are given. (Author/publisher) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD Abstract No. E201067.