Drug Rehabilitation Glossary of “C”
CAADE: California Association for Alcohol and Drug Educators. This non-profit association consists of substance abuse educators in higher education. Has developed a model drug alcohol studies curriculum widely used by agencies throughout the state.
Cannabinoids: The psychoactive substances found in the common hemp plant, or Cannabis Sativa. Most of the psychological effects are produced by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.
Central nervous system: CNS. Consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
Cerebral cortex: Region of the brain responsible for cognitive functions including reasoning, mood, and perception of stimuli.
Chain-of-Custody: Procedures to account for the integrity of each urine specimen by tracking its handling and storage from point of specimen collection to final disposition of the specimen. Documentation of this process must include the date and purpose each time a specimen is handled or transferred, and identification of each individual in the chain-of-custody.
Chemical Dependency: A physical and psychological habituation to a mind-mood altering substance such as alcohol or drugs.
Chromatography: Any of a variety of techniques used to separate mixtures of drugs and their metabolites and other chemicals into individual components based on differences in their relative affinities for two different media: a mobile phase and a stationary phase. In gas chromatography, the mobile phase is inert gas such as nitrogen or helium and the stationary phase is a high-boiling liquid bound to fine particles packed in a glass column, or bound to the inner surface of a glass capillary column.
CLIA-waved: Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments — Congress passed the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) in 1988 establishing quality standards for all laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of patient test results regardless of where the test was performed. Some government and judicial department must only use CLIA-waved tests.
Cocaine: An alkaloid, methylbenzoylecgonine. Obtained from the leaves of the cocoa plant. It is both a stimulant and an appetite suppressant. Highly addictive and can be smoked, inhaled, or used intravenously. It is a central nervous system stimulant that produces euphoric excitement.
Confirmatory Test: A second analytical procedure to identify the presence of a specific drug which is independent of the initial drug test and which uses a different technique and chemical principle in order to ensure reliability and accuracy.
Craving: A powerful, often uncontrollable desire for drugs.
Cutoff Level (Threshold): The defined concentration of an analyte in a specimen at or above which the test is called positive and below which it is called negative. This concentration is usually significantly greater than the sensitivity of the assay.
