Stability of Drugs of Abuse in Biological Specimens.

Knowledge about the stability of drugs in biological specimens is critical to proper interpretation of test results. Literature pertaining to the stability of drugs of abuse in blood, urine, saliva, and tissue specimens is reviewed in this article. Ethanol-related information are also included as it is an abused drug and its stability in blood and urine has been the subject of many studies. Other drug classes for which literature data were reviewed are barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine and benzoylecgonine, lysergic acid diethylamide, and phencyclidine. Stability characteristics for these drug classes depend on the drug, the specimen pH, and storage temperature.