Karen Blakey

Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDS) are a broad group of substances that can be used in an attempt to modify physical appearance or improve physical/mental performance. This presentation will provide an overview of the types of IPEDS encountered in Queensland drug seizures, including newer classes emerging in recent years. Examples of when the contents don’t live up to the label will be highlighted across a range of IPEDS to show that fakes and substitutions are not isolated to anabolic steroids.  

Karen Blakey is a Senior Chemist in the Forensic Chemistry laboratory at Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services and has been working in illicit drug analysis for more than 20 years. The Illicit Drug group in the laboratory analyses approximately 18,000 seized drug exhibits from across Queensland each year, including a variety of performance and image enhancing drugs, ranging from anabolic steroids to cognitive enhancers.