Most U.S. Money Laced With Cocaine
CaligulaPolk
Posts: 1,650
Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds.
A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found "alarming" evidence of cocaine use in many areas.
U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.
The findings were presented yesterday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.
Study leader Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth said that the high percentage of contaminated U.S. currency observed in the current study represents nearly a 20 percent jump in comparison to a similar study he conducted two years ago.
"To my surprise, we're finding more and more cocaine in banknotes," Zuo said.
Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills. Contamination can also spread to banknotes not involved in the illicit drug culture, because bills are processed in banks' currency-counting machines.
"I'm not sure why we've seen this apparent increase, but it could be related to the economic downturn, with stressed people turning to cocaine," Zuo said.
Such studies are useful, he noted, because the data can help law enforcement agencies and forensic specialists identify patterns of drug use in a community.
Previous studies that have reported on cocaine traces on money have had several drawbacks, Zuo said. Some only sampled a small number of bills, while others destroyed the money in the process of testing.
Zuo and his colleagues used a modified instrument that allowed for faster, simpler and more accurate measurement of cocaine contamination than other methods, without destroying the currency.
The amounts of cocaine found on U.S. bills ranged from .006 micrograms (several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand) to more than 1,240 micrograms of cocaine per banknote (about 50 grains of sand).
The scientists found that larger cities like Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit had among the highest average cocaine levels. Washington, D.C., ranked above the average, with 95 percent of the banknotes sampled contaminated with the drug. The lowest average cocaine levels in U.S. currency appeared on bills collected from Salt Lake City.
Despite the high percentage of cocaine-contaminated banknotes, Zuo points out that the amount of cocaine found on most notes was so small that consumers should not have any health or legal concerns about handling paper money.
"For the most part, you can't get high by sniffing a regular banknote, unless it was used directly in drug uptake or during a drug exchange," Zuo said. "It also won't affect your health and is unlikely to interfere with blood and urine tests used for drug detection.
WHY CANT THEY USE MCDONALD STRAW OR NOT USING COCAINE AT ALL??? DAMN GOT TO WORRY ABOUT LIL KID PUTTING DOLLAR IN HIS MOUTH!! WHAT NEXT? QUARTERS LACED WITH COCAINE BY CRUSHING DAMN 8 BALL? FRIGGIN SAD SOCIETY
A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found "alarming" evidence of cocaine use in many areas.
U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.
The findings were presented yesterday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.
Study leader Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth said that the high percentage of contaminated U.S. currency observed in the current study represents nearly a 20 percent jump in comparison to a similar study he conducted two years ago.
"To my surprise, we're finding more and more cocaine in banknotes," Zuo said.
Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills. Contamination can also spread to banknotes not involved in the illicit drug culture, because bills are processed in banks' currency-counting machines.
"I'm not sure why we've seen this apparent increase, but it could be related to the economic downturn, with stressed people turning to cocaine," Zuo said.
Such studies are useful, he noted, because the data can help law enforcement agencies and forensic specialists identify patterns of drug use in a community.
Previous studies that have reported on cocaine traces on money have had several drawbacks, Zuo said. Some only sampled a small number of bills, while others destroyed the money in the process of testing.
Zuo and his colleagues used a modified instrument that allowed for faster, simpler and more accurate measurement of cocaine contamination than other methods, without destroying the currency.
The amounts of cocaine found on U.S. bills ranged from .006 micrograms (several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand) to more than 1,240 micrograms of cocaine per banknote (about 50 grains of sand).
The scientists found that larger cities like Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit had among the highest average cocaine levels. Washington, D.C., ranked above the average, with 95 percent of the banknotes sampled contaminated with the drug. The lowest average cocaine levels in U.S. currency appeared on bills collected from Salt Lake City.
Despite the high percentage of cocaine-contaminated banknotes, Zuo points out that the amount of cocaine found on most notes was so small that consumers should not have any health or legal concerns about handling paper money.
"For the most part, you can't get high by sniffing a regular banknote, unless it was used directly in drug uptake or during a drug exchange," Zuo said. "It also won't affect your health and is unlikely to interfere with blood and urine tests used for drug detection.
WHY CANT THEY USE MCDONALD STRAW OR NOT USING COCAINE AT ALL??? DAMN GOT TO WORRY ABOUT LIL KID PUTTING DOLLAR IN HIS MOUTH!! WHAT NEXT? QUARTERS LACED WITH COCAINE BY CRUSHING DAMN 8 BALL? FRIGGIN SAD SOCIETY
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Why am I here? My wife's hearing! My Home Theater Rig || Television: 58" Panasonic TH-58PZ800U Viera Plasma || Power Conditioner: Power Monster HTS 3600 MKII || Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR805 || Blu-Ray/Gaming: 60 Gigabytes Playstation 3 || Amplifier: Emotiva XPA-5 || Fronts: Polk Audio RT800i || Center: Polk Audio CS245i || Surrounds: TBA|| Subwoofer: TBA
Post edited by CaligulaPolk on
Comments
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Read the last paragraph of the article.
Your kid is fine. I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.
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Yeah and there's probably as much fecal matter on it too. Doesn't keep people from trying to get as much of it as they can.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
This has come up in the past (maybe 20 years ago) about our $20 bills be tainted with drugs that are snorted. Using 20's to snort coke was popular during the 80's in Miami.
BillMy 2012 HT Room - http://www.avsforum.com/t/1416077/bsoko2-new-ht-june-2012 -
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Your kids will be just fine. We're talking about trace amounts here...such small amounts that you need a laboratory to even find them.
Like Jstas said...there's probably just as much, if not more fecal matter on them.The nirvana inducer-
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The subject line says "LACED WITH" while the article reads "TRACES OF"....there's a big difference.TNRabbit
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CaligulaPolk wrote: »
WHY CANT THEY USE MCDONALD STRAW OR NOT USING COCAINE AT ALL??? DAMN GOT TO WORRY ABOUT LIL KID PUTTING DOLLAR IN HIS MOUTH!! WHAT NEXT? QUARTERS LACED WITH COCAINE BY CRUSHING DAMN 8 BALL? FRIGGIN SAD SOCIETY
I would be more worried about cooking his food over a gas grill
now back in the 70's and 80's yeah I can see it and more than likely was responsible for 1 or 2 or these bills...... -
I just take apart a ball point pen and cut it in half:D J/K
MarkSig to be updated after dealing with the insurance company:(:(:( -
This has come up in the past (maybe 20 years ago) about our $20 bills be tainted with drugs that are snorted. Using 20's to snort coke was popular during the 80's in Miami.
Bill
Hundred dollar bills for me - but that was 30 years ago:D:D Chris -
The money spent on this type of research makes me just shake my head and laugh at the a-holes who think this **** up. What a joke and waste of money.If...
Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
Ron loves a film = don't even rent. -
The money spent on this type of research makes me just shake my head and laugh at the a-holes who think this **** up. What a joke and waste of money.
We have a winner!!!Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
The money spent on this type of research makes me just shake my head and laugh at the a-holes who think this **** up. What a joke and waste of money.
That's what I thought about this one.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/19/nih-funds-study-men-dont-like-use-condoms/
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I wonder if they tested currency for perfume? We would find out how much money has gone through the garter belts of pole dancers.Carl
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CaligulaPolk wrote: »
WHY CANT THEY USE MCDONALD STRAW OR NOT USING COCAINE AT ALL??? DAMN GOT TO WORRY ABOUT LIL KID PUTTING DOLLAR IN HIS MOUTH!! WHAT NEXT? QUARTERS LACED WITH COCAINE BY CRUSHING DAMN 8 BALL? FRIGGIN SAD SOCIETY
Wow... buddy chill out, just a little paranoid... Theres a lot more in life to worry about then pretty much negligible amounts of cocaine on dollar bills. Yes, these tests are complete waste of time and moneyAVR: H/K AVR240
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Shades of CL35.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Well, I just pulled off the impossible by doing a double-blind comparison all by myself, purely by virtue of the fact that I completely and stupidly forgot what I did last. I guess that getting old does have its advantages after all
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Well,I guess if the OP is worried about it,he can send me all his money.I'll replace it with some nice laundered stuff....I swear.HT SYSTEM-
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