Prosecuting those arrested for the unlawful possession, distribution
or importation of illicit drugs, such as powder cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin
and LSD, is usually both timeconsuming and expensive, primarily because
of the need to determine “beyond a reasonable doubt” the total
amount of drugs seized in each case. Accuracy is important since penalties
(imprisonment or fines) depend upon the quantity seized. Substantial backlogs
in processing drug cases often develop as a result. In some jurisdictions,
complete testing and analysis of all substances seized froma defendant are
customary in support of a case, while in other jurisdictions randomsampling of
drugs and the subsequent presentation of an estimate of the total amount seized
have been used for many years. Due to pressure from crime laboratories and
prosecutors, who point to major increases in their caseloads as well as a trend
toward decreasing funding and staffing for the crime laboratories,
jurisdictions which currently carry out a complete census of all seized
evidence are now seriously considering a change in their methodology with a
view to instituting new guidelines for the scientific sampling of evidence. In
this article, we discuss the statistical and legal issues that have arisen in
cases involving illicit drugs.