Question:
A man is arrested for possession of narcotics, the culprit is found to have black tongue. What is likely to have been the substance of abuse?
A man is arrested for possession of narcotics, the culprit is found to have black tongue. What is likely to have been the substance of abuse?
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Smoking this drug through a hot pipe can burn and blacken the tongue.
Updated On: Jul 8, 2026
- Heroin
- Cocaine
- Cannabis
- Arsenic
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Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Read the clue carefully.
The man was arrested for narcotics possession and is found to have a black tongue. We need to pick the substance whose abuse pattern explains this specific physical sign.
Step 2: Link black tongue to how the drug is used.
Cocaine, especially in its freebase or crack form, is commonly smoked through a small pipe that gets very hot during use. Repeated smoking through a hot pipe stem causes thermal burns to the lips and tongue over time. These repeated burns leave blackened, charred looking patches on the tongue, a sign forensic doctors specifically look for in chronic crack or cocaine smokers.
Step 3: Rule out the other substances.
Heroin abuse usually shows needle track marks on the arms, pinpoint pupils, and slowed breathing, not a black tongue.
Cannabis (ganja) smoking causes red conjunctiva, dry mouth, and increased appetite, but is not classically tied to a blackened tongue sign in forensic teaching.
Arsenic poisoning gives signs such as Mees lines on the nails, skin pigmentation changes, and garlic odor breath, a very different picture from a burned black tongue.
Step 4: Conclude.
The black tongue sign in a narcotics case points to chronic cocaine (crack) smoking from repeated thermal injury of the hot pipe.
Final Answer:
\[ \boxed{\text{Cocaine}} \]
The man was arrested for narcotics possession and is found to have a black tongue. We need to pick the substance whose abuse pattern explains this specific physical sign.
Step 2: Link black tongue to how the drug is used.
Cocaine, especially in its freebase or crack form, is commonly smoked through a small pipe that gets very hot during use. Repeated smoking through a hot pipe stem causes thermal burns to the lips and tongue over time. These repeated burns leave blackened, charred looking patches on the tongue, a sign forensic doctors specifically look for in chronic crack or cocaine smokers.
Step 3: Rule out the other substances.
Heroin abuse usually shows needle track marks on the arms, pinpoint pupils, and slowed breathing, not a black tongue.
Cannabis (ganja) smoking causes red conjunctiva, dry mouth, and increased appetite, but is not classically tied to a blackened tongue sign in forensic teaching.
Arsenic poisoning gives signs such as Mees lines on the nails, skin pigmentation changes, and garlic odor breath, a very different picture from a burned black tongue.
Step 4: Conclude.
The black tongue sign in a narcotics case points to chronic cocaine (crack) smoking from repeated thermal injury of the hot pipe.
Final Answer:
\[ \boxed{\text{Cocaine}} \]
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