Drug Testing Entire Cities at Once

Ellis D. Tripp writes "Researchers have developed a technique for determining what illicit drugs people might be consuming in a given area, by testing a sample from the local sewage treatment plant. As little as a teaspoonful of untreated wastewater can reveal drug use patterns in a given community. Obviously, any drugs found can't be tied to any specific user, but how much longer until the drug warriors want to deploy automatic sampling units farther upstream of the sewage treatment plant?" From the article: "one fairly affluent community scored low for illicit drugs except for cocaine. Cocaine and ecstasy tended to peak on weekends and drop on weekdays, she said, while methamphetamine and prescription drugs were steady throughout the week."

Comments

Speaking as a pothead in Memphis...

[Khyber]

Dealers don't pull strings to get people hooked, ask any pothead.

You're right, here in Memphis they don't pull strings, they pull GUNS to get people hooked. Just head to Whitehaven, Orange Mound, Southaven, Voodoo Village, etc. People have been forced to buy and use crack at gunpoint, including myself.