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تسجيل

Compressed tablets Illicit tablets

المؤلف:  Sue Jickells , Adam Negrusz (Editors)

المصدر:  Clarkes Analytical Forensic Toxicology

الجزء والصفحة:  325-326

2026-10-29

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Compressed tablets

Illicit tablets

Small numbers of tablets may be made using drilled metal plates and hammer-driven punches or by screw-driven hand presses. Most illicit tablets are made by similar machines to those used by the legitimate manufacturers, but in very different conditions (Fig. 1). The equip ment needed to satisfy the demand for ecstasy tablets (estimated at one million each week in the UK) has to be highly automated. The machines may be in poor condition and the dies and punches may be damaged and leave characteristic visible imperfections on the tablets they produce, which may provide valuable intelligence. The so-called ‘ballistic’ examination of tablets for these imperfections (using techniques like those for the examination of firearms and ammunition) by forensic laboratories was once common, but is no longer carried out routinely in the UK. The variability of dimensions and dose of illicitly produced tablets is often much greater than that found in legitimate tablets, despite the use of similar machinery. Tablets pressed in the same die must all have the same diameter, but can vary greatly in thickness depending on the fill weight and the degree of compression. This may affect both the dose and the disintegration time and hence the bioavailability of the active compound.

Figure 1 Commercial tablet machine used to produce illicit tablets. (Courtesy of TICTAC Communications Ltd.)