Fingerprints Will Soon Tell Police If Suspects are on Cocaine

Is technology about to change cocaine policy ?

Cocaine use is on the rise in Europe with over 30% of adults saying they have tried the drug in England in the last year. Cocaine use has trebled over the last two decades. This trend is driven by:

• higher availability of the drug

• lower purity of street product has reduced the price of cocaine

• social acceptance amongst all walks of life (media is full of reports of middle class wine tastings where cocaine is served together with Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Camembert)

• the rather peculiar fact that it’s very difficult to get busted after using cocaine.

That last point is about to change.

The reason cocaine is difficult to establish is that it metabolises quickly and is usually out of the human system within 12 – 72 hours (depending on metabolism rate and amount taken).

Police in particular find cocaine difficult to test for as a saliva test is only conclusive for 5 to 10 minutes after taking the drug, and a urine test shows traces for about 2 – 5 hours post use. So by the time you’ve brought a suspect to the station he is likely to show as clean. Blood tests are more conclusive but come with other difficulties, such as administering the needle to an unruly suspect.

The Cocaine Fingerprint Development

Now researchers led by scientists from the University of Surrey have developed a non–invasive test based on mass spectrometry: they analyse a potential user’s fingerprints to detect cocaine use.

“When someone has taken cocaine, they excrete traces of benzoylecgonine and methylecgonine as they metabolise the drug, and these chemical indicators are present in fingerprint residue,” said lead author Dr Melanie Bailey from the University of Surrey.  “For our part of the investigations, we sprayed a beam of solvent onto the fingerprint slide (a technique known as Desorption Electrospray Ionisation, or DESI) to determine if these substances were present.

“The beauty of this method is that, not only is it non-invasive and more hygienic than testing blood or saliva, it can’t be faked,” added Dr Bailey. “By the very nature of the test, the identity of the subject is captured within the fingerprint ridge detail itself.”

The technology is now being miniaturised by a number of private contractors and will likely be available to police officers in the near future. This is likely to lead to a much tougher general policy stance and testing and conviction of potential users.

The question of course is: with increased scrutiny and possibility of getting caught will public perception of cocaine use change into the more negative territory and usage fall?

If you like this article you may be interested in “The Politics of Power: Inside ITER and the International Energy Project”.