Barbiturates

The term barbiturate is a name given to a group of drugs that function by depressing the activity of the central nervous system. Their principal effect is to reduce stress and bring the user a feeling of calm. Often, this sedation can help someone fall asleep. This is why barbiturates are often termed sleeping pills.

Barbiturates were first made over a century ago by the Bayer laboratories in Germany. They take their name from barbital, which was the first barbiturate used medically, in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Aside from their stress relief, the nervous system alteration induced by barbiturates can also be beneficial in the management of diseases like epilepsy.

Of the dozen or so barbiturates still in common medical use, the speed at which the effects are produced and the length of time the effects persist are the distinguishing features between the drugs.

Some barbiturates produce an effect within seconds of being taken. Others require more time to act but last longer. Finally, those used for sedation before an operation can last for hours.

Barbiturates are important to forensic scientists when they are present in blood samples in excess amounts. This can occur accidentally, since the effective dose of many of the drugs is not too different from a dose that causes harm. One well-known victim of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills was the musician Jimi Hendrix. As well, a barbiturate overdose can be deliberately administered. When present in excessive amounts, the drugs can cause debilitating changes. Sedation can even be so severe that coma and death result.

Forensic investigators can be interested in determining if barbiturates were a factor in someone's illness or death. Recollections of the victim's behavior can be helpful in determining the involvement of barbiturates. For example, side effects of an overdose include slurred speech and unsteady balance. Admittedly, these are also symptoms of excessive alcohol consumption.

More definitive evidence of barbiturate use comes from the chemical demonstration of the drug in tissue samples. Because most barbiturates tend to accumulate in fat deposits in the body, to be released at varying rates depending on the specific drug, a barbiturate may be detectable in tissue specimens recovered even some time after death.