Comment #2

CashWinner$ — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:41:55 GMT

Holy smokes time*treat...I was gonna post a comment about the good technology police are getting...but then I read your comment. Your idea is something I never thought about, I guess that'll have the defense attorney's salivating! Will have to wait & see if this is an issue..

Comment #1

time*treat — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:55:23 GMT

How are they going to know whether the person has been *using* drugs rather than simply handling the filthy currency notes? They are contaminated with all manner of drug residue and other things ... except purchasing power. They shed *that* pretty fast.

Original Blog Entry: Police will be able to test people for drugs by fingerprinting them

truesee — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:57:23 GMT

Drug driving test at your fingertips

NewScientist Health

Magazine issue 2822

24 July 2011

A FINGERPRINT is all you need to determine whether someone is under the influence of drugs.

Paul Yates from Intelligent Fingerprinting, a company spun out from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and colleagues, have developed a handheld device that police can use to detect breakdown products from drugs excreted through sweat pores in the fingertips.

The device applies gold nanoparticles coated with antibodies to a fingerprint. The antibodies stick to antigens on specific metabolites in the fingerprint. Fluorescent dyes attached to the antibodies will highlight the presence of any metabolites. The technique was first used to detect nicotine, but now works on a range of drugs, including cocaine, methadone and cannabis.

It is hard to prove that someone is drug driving, for example, says Yates, because existing tests are invasive, can be contaminated, or aren't sensitive enough. The new device could detect nanograms of metabolites in minutes, he says. The device was announced at the UCL International Crime Science Conference in London last week.

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