Even More Wasted Effort On "The War On Drugs"

[Agent Smith]

WASHINGTON - Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city’s sewer plant.

The test wouldn’t be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help federal law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, across the country.

Oregon State University scientists tested 10 unnamed American cities for remnants of drugs, both legal and illegal, from wastewater streams. They were able to show that they could get a good snapshot of what people are taking.

“It’s a community urinalysis,” said Caleb Banta-Green, a University of Washington drug abuse researcher who was part of the Oregon State team. The scientists presented their results Tuesday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.

Two federal agencies have taken samples from U.S. waterways to see if drug testing a whole city is doable, but they haven’t gotten as far as the Oregon researchers.

Test results
One of the early results of the new study showed big differences in methamphetamine use city to city. One urban area with a gambling industry had meth levels more than five times higher than other cities. Yet methamphetamine levels were virtually nonexistent in some smaller Midwestern locales, said Jennifer Field, the lead researcher and a professor of environmental toxicology at Oregon State.

The ingredient Americans consume and excrete the most was caffeine, Field said.

Cities in the experiment ranged from 17,000 to 600,000 in population, but Field declined to identify them, saying that could harm her relationship with the sewage plant operators.

She plans to start a survey for drugs in the wastewater of at least 40 Oregon communities.

The science behind the testing is simple. Nearly every drug — legal and illicit — that people take leaves the body. That waste goes into toilets and then into wastewater treatment plants.

“Wastewater facilities are wonderful places to understand what humans consume and excrete,” Field said.

In the study presented Tuesday, one teaspoon of untreated sewage water from each of the cities was tested for 15 different drugs. Field said researchers can’t calculate how many people in a town are using drugs.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20380094...5773?gt1=10316

[NineseveN]

I think we should declare a "War on Pointless Wars"!

[Agent Smith]

I think we should declare a "War on Pointless Wars"!

I'm with you on that one!

[fultonCoShooter]

you know since the United states invaded Afghanistan opium production has increased?

so here we have a war on drugs

in Afghanistan we have a war for drugs

here or there its retarded

just like testin poop its retarded

[brewguy]

Wait a minute. I thought there was no more Meth?? I mean why do I have to buy alergy medicine from the Pharmacy in 15 day packs? This was suppose to get rid of Meth!

[bloomautomatic]

Just start poopin' in the yard.

The war on drugs is a sham, just like political correctness.

I firmly believe the flow of illegal drugs into this country can be stopped whenever they want. Stomping out locally grown/manufactured drugs like meth or weed would be a bit more difficult, especially if it's being produced on a small scale.

And what's an even bigger waste is that they're wasting resources to bust people for smoking a joint, or possessing a few grams of weed (which shouldn't even be a crime in my opinion.) I guess it's easier for the cops to chase down and catch a pot head than a meth freak.

Vince

[Tony Fly]

Can you fight a war on an enimy that is almost imposible to find?