Interesting article i came across recently: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/07/sciprints107.xml Text: ***** Police now have the ability to analyse the traces of cannabis, cocaine and other drugs, or explosives, in a fingerprint itself. <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" width="358"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2" width="8"> </td><td width="350"><center></center></td></tr><tr><td class="caption"><center>(A) DESI image of cocaine on a print blotted on glass (B) Computer print from DESI image (C) Ink print blotted on paper, (D) Computer print from optical image</center></td></tr></tbody></table>The new technique reveals, in extraordinary detail, the chemical compounds that make up the print and could also find medical uses, since tiny traces of chemicals at our fingertips could signal the presence of a disease or an illness. This method can also be used directly on a fingerprint, right where it's found, without the need to lift the print off and take it to a lab for analysis. Dr Demian Ifa, Prof Graham Cooks at Purdue University in West Lafayette, and colleagues report in the journal Science how they used a technique called desorption electrospray ionization, or DESI, which involves spraying a solvent onto a fingerprinted surface and then analysing the droplets that scatter off the print with a method called mass spectroscopy. The technique provides a "chemical image" of the fingerprint with higher resolution than other techniques, and can analyse as little as a billionth of a gram of material, said Prof Cooks. "The classic example of a fingerprint is an ink imprint showing the unique swirls and loops used for identification, but fingerprints also leave behind a unique distribution of molecular compounds," Prof Cooks said. "Some of the residues left behind are from naturally occurring compounds in the skin and some are from other surfaces or materials a person has touched." In this way, the researchers can detect minute traces of compounds - marked as dots on the print - that were on the fingertips of the person who left the print. This technique can pick up small amounts of drugs like cocaine or THC, the active ingredient from marijuana, as well as compounds from explosives. Researchers may also find this technique useful for identifying metabolites or other compounds in fingertip secretions, whose presence may signal other processes happening inside the body. The team is also studying if it could be used as an alternative to blood and urine tests for athletes, said Prof Cooks. The image can also be analysed with standard fingerprint imaging software to try to identify that person and help distinguish overlapping prints."Because the distribution of compounds found in each fingerprint can be unique, we also can use this technology to pull one fingerprint out from beneath layers of other fingerprints," Dr Ifa said. "By looking for compounds we know to be present in a certain fingerprint, we can separate it from the others and obtain a crystal clear image of that fingerprint. The image could then be used with fingerprint recognition software to identify an individual." ****** Now I know to some people this is bad news. The way I see it is finally road side testing for cannabis can be established. Similarly to testing for ETOH via breathalyzer tests, acceptable levels for driving under the influence of cannabis can be established. I don't think the article lists if the actual concentration is produced as a result of the test, or if it's simply a positive or negative result. Irregardless I feel that this is a positive step towards helping legalize cannabis. With this technology tests can now be run quickly to determine whether or not driving under the influence of cannabis is a detriment or not, with numbers to back up the evidence. For those who have read the article, what is your position on this new method of testing?
well..in the world of legalization..this could be a good thing. A main concern to anti-legalizisation is driving high..this way we can say let us smoke in the house and designated areas, but if you drive you get a DUI..its a fair trade IMO..hell I dont believe in drinking and driving, but i smoke and ride all the time..seems like a fair sacrifice to make but, that is pretty scary
Well alcohol is confidence in a bottle, it makes you take chances. Bud has a completely different effect, and authorities say don't drive while on weed, it's bad! But the truth is, they don't know for sure as it is untested. Hopefully in the future this can lead to a standardized level like anything greater than 0.08mmol/L of cannabinoids and you cannot drive (just picked a number, nobody knows the safe concentration yet)
cool, u found .0000000001 grams of cocaine on my fingers i bought a drink with an old dollar bill tell me where the 10 kilo's in my bag are and then you got yourself a courtcase
If this really becomes an alternative method to urine tests than thats awesome because all you would have to do is wear gloves when you toke.
but when you touch anything with weed (or any oother drug) it would get on you...... MJ morning show did a test on keyboards in their office for drugs and most of them cam up with drugs. They found coke on MJ's head.... and he's damn near straightedge.. . You can get drug residue on your hands from touching other people, or money.......
"Researchers may also find this technique useful for identifying metabolites or other compounds in fingertip secretions, whose presence may signal other processes happening inside the body." It would work like a regular drug test would. The test would start detecting metabolites at a deliberately higher level IE) they wouldn't start at zero, they may start detecting at say 0.5mcg to prevent false positives. Also not touching the drug doesn't matter, it would detect metabolites as well as minute molecular changes on your print.
i saw something like this a long time ago, when a company was trying to market drug tests to parents. Works like this: You find something your child touches ( a pencil or something i think was their example ) you then mail it to a company, and they can tell you what drugs your child has come into contact with. pretty wild. But still, no real evidence, like neg said, it can come from ANYTHING. Someones car door handle, etc etc.