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Study Shows Cocaine And Other Drugs In Spanish Air

If you live in Madrid or Barcelona, you might not notice the air pollution due to your contact buzz according to a new study. The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations found the air in those cities to be laced with at least five drugs: amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids, lysergic acid and most prominently cocaine. Researchers found cocaine in concentrations between 29 and 850 picogram per cubic meter of air. The group stresses that the air samples were taken in high drug areas and don't represent most of the air in the cities.

164 comments

  1. BRB by WilyCoder · · Score: 5, Funny

    BRB, packing my bags....

    1. Re:BRB by sofar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      what makes you think this is any different than in a typical town in (insert state/country you live in)?

    2. Re:BRB by Ambiguous+Coward · · Score: 1

      Optimism, mostly.

      --
      Their may be a grammatical error, misspeling, or evn a typo in this post.
    3. Re:BRB by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      "what makes you think this is any different than in a typical town in (insert state/country you live in)?"

      Wasn't there a recent study in the US, that in the water supplies they found mostly pharmceutical drugs...even levels of birth control, etc.

      I remember years back, hearing that you 'could' get tested positive for cocaine, just due to you handling currency. The reason being that not only were people using bills rolled up to snort it, but, that often money and the drugs were packed together for storage / transport. I'd heard that almost any bill could be picked at random, and test positive for traces of coke.

      Anecdotal, but, sounded plausible to me.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    4. Re:BRB by pz · · Score: 4, Informative

      what makes you think this is any different than in a typical town in (insert state/country you live in)?

      Maybe because of what one of the researchers on the study said, as quoted from the article: "Mar Viana, another researcher who worked on the project, said the levels [in Madrid and Barcelona] were far higher than those found in similar studies in Europe."

      The article then goes on to cite another study in Italy where the highest concentration of cocaine found was 100 pg/m3 -- whereas in the Spanish study, the maximum found was 850 pg/m3. That's almost an order of magnitude difference between Spain and Italy. While there are many, many reasons this might be true, certainly it would appear that Madrid and Barcelona have much higher concentrations of drugs in the air than other cities.

      Despite the overwhelming behavior to the contrary, it really is often worth reading the linked articles before expressing an opinion.

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    5. Re:BRB by MyLongNickName · · Score: 1

      between 29 and 850 picogram per cubic meter of air.

      FTA: "between 29 and 850 picogram per cubic meter of air. "

      We don't even USE metric over here in the States! DUH!

      --
      See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    6. Re:BRB by QRDeNameland · · Score: 1

      MThe article then goes on to cite another study in Italy where the highest concentration of cocaine found was 100 pg/m3 -- whereas in the Spanish study, the maximum found was 850 pg/m3. That's almost an order of magnitude difference between Spain and Italy. While there are many, many reasons this might be true, certainly it would appear that Madrid and Barcelona have much higher concentrations of drugs in the air than other cities.

      Well, here's one hypothesis. Woody Allen made a recent film in Barcelona, and perhaps he had a repeat of this incident.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    7. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/07/spain.drugstrade

    8. Re:BRB by Jaysyn · · Score: 2, Informative
      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    9. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For those that are not paying attention to the math, a pico gram is a trillionth of a gram. Taking the worst case of 850 picograms, 0.00000000085 grams. Not sure of the combined street value of the drugs in question are, but I am certain that the overall value of the study on a scale of one to 10 0 +/- 0.00000000000000000001.

    10. Re:BRB by teebob21 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not that it matters, but if you're going to rebut someone with a snopes link, at least state that it's true. Snopes debunks so many urban legends that the folks who can't be bothered to even RTFA will think you just debunked the whole cocaine-laced money thing.

      **SNIFF** Man, George Washington smells good.

      --
      khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
    11. Re:BRB by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 4, Informative

      Here's another hypotesis: Spain has the highest percentage of cocaine consumers of the world (it even surpassed EEUU in 2005 or so). Drug in europe is introduced in our beachs, so here in spain it's quite cheap.

    12. Re:BRB by Jaysyn · · Score: 0, Troll

      I wasn't rebutting anything, I was providing a link with more info on the subject. I really don't care what people who can't be bothered to read think.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    13. Re:BRB by sdpuppy · · Score: 1
      Besides, this is Slashdot, there needs to be some techie information or link, such as, how did they determine that currency has traces of drugs?

      Mass spectrometry, using "Direct Analysis in Real Time" ion source. You wave the thing you want analyzed in the instrument and you get your mass peaks data. No sample prep required (don't have to cut up your money or dissolving it up)

      http://www.ionsense.com/drugsoncurrency.php

      and a here is nice site describing the technique:

      http://www.jeolusa.com/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?TabId=337&DMXModule=693&Command=Core_Download&EntryId=171&PortalId=2

      A newer mass spectral ionization technique, called DESI or "desorption electrospray ionization" is also used:

      http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007a/070227T-CooksDesi.html

      also:

      http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac071114x

    14. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      The article then goes on to cite another study in Italy where the highest concentration of cocaine found was 100 pg/m3 -- whereas in the Spanish study, the maximum found was 850 pg/m3. That's almost an order of magnitude difference between Spain and Italy.

      The Italians know to sniff IN

    15. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.snopes.com/business/money/cocaine.asp

      Just because it really PISSES me off that Snopes disallows selecting text on their page, here's the full article:

      A large percentage of U.S. currency bears traces of cocaine.

      So often those "everybody knows" facts we naively place reliance upon turn out to be embarrassingly false. Such is not the case here, in that there is some truth to the "U.S. currency tainted by cocaine" claim, but the implications of this conversation-stopping fact are far more mundane than we might initially presume. To put it another way, it's less shocking a fact than we first perceive it to be because the underlying assumption — that every bill bearing traces of cocaine got that way through having been used to inhale lines of cocaine — is false.

      Contrary to our first thought upon encountering this interesting little fact, that trace amounts of cocaine turn up on approximately four of every five bills in circulation doesn't mean the now-contaminated currency was at one time used to snort coke or passed through the dope-laden paws of seedy characters. Rather, the drug is easily conveyed from one bill to another because cocaine in powdered form is extremely fine. (This point would have been much more difficult to explain prior to the anthrax mailings of 2001, but those deadly contaminations taught even the least drug-savvy among us how easily minute amounts of finely-milled substances can be transferred from one letter to another, even when the powder is contained within the envelope rather than lying on the surface.)

      When a cocaine-contaminated bill is processed through a sorting or counting machine, traces of the drug are easily passed to other bills in the same batch. ATMs serve to spread tiny amounts of cocaine to nearly all the currency they distribute, as do the counting machines used in banks and casinos.

      How widespread is the contamination? No one appears to have the definitive answer, as every study comes up with a different percentage. (For simplicity's sake, we'll say "four of five" throughout this article because that's the worst-case scenario, and the figure is representative of the results of some studies.)

      In one 1985 study done by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on the money machines in a U.S. Federal Reserve district bank, random samples of $50 and $100 bills revealed that a third to a half of all the currency tested bore traces of cocaine. Moreover, the machines themselves were often found to test positive, meaning that subsequent batches of cash fed through them would also pick up cocaine residue. Expert evidence given before a federal appeals court in 1995 showed that three out of four bills randomly examined in the Los Angeles area bore traces of the drug. In a 1997 study conducted at the Argonne National Laboratory, nearly four out of five one-dollar bills in Chicago suburbs were found to bear discernable traces of cocaine. In another study, more than 135 bills from seven U.S. cities were tested, and all but four were contaminated with traces of cocaine. These bills had been collected from restaurants, stores, and banks in cities from Milwaukee to Dallas.

      A single bill used to snort cocaine or otherwise mingled with the drug can contaminate an entire cash drawer. When counting and sorting machines (which fan the bills, and thus the cocaine) are factored in, it's no wonder that so much of the currency now in circulation wouldn't pass any purity tests.

      The average person need not fear that the money in his wallet will inadvertently get him high, or that the act of paying for his burger and fries at McDonald's will cause him to fail a random drug test. Only those whose jobs call upon them to handle an extremely large number of bills every day need worry that enough cocaine is getting on their hands to be detectable. Bank tellers or those who work in the soft count rooms of casinos, for ins

    16. Re:BRB by Vexor · · Score: 1

      And here I thought the whole laundering money thing was just to get the cocaine off the bills...

      --
      ~Vexed and loving it!
    17. Re:BRB by Alpha830RulZ · · Score: 1

      Um, how cheap?

      --
      I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
    18. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I've lived in several european cities and countries. Right now I reside in Barcelona and frankly I understand that it's difficult to picture, but trust me when I say that no european city that I know of (perhaps Madrid, haven't been there yet) compares to Barcelona what goes for drugs. Amsterdam is a mere candy store in comparison. The tolerance level of drugs here is so high that the urban police have no right to confiscate cannabis, only the Catalonian (province) police "Mossos" can. And most times they just tell you to put it out or take it somewhere else, as in your home. There's a constitutional law in Spain that renders some drug banning impossible. The law separates your home from the public and you have far greater "freedom" in your home, such as freedom of using and growing cannabis for personal use. However this tolerance level naturally brings the drugs to the streets anyway. Still the biggest problem is tourists that come for this reason. They consume much more "party" drugs such as cocaine, MDMA/extacy and amphetamines, than the native catalans. But roughly speaking, from my experience, 9 out of 10 18-30-year-olds in Barcelona has consumed cannabis at one or more occasions. Cannabis is simply that available.

    19. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Theres also a massive port in Barcelona... I wonder if that helps?

    20. Re:BRB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wondered why I liked Madrid so much. Seriously I was so excited for Paris that I wasn't expecting Madrid to be so much cooler.... I guess they just kept my buzz going longer... and at less expense.

    21. Re:BRB by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      I just totally selected text from a snopes page. I'm not sure what problem YOU'RE having, but it seems to be YOUR problem.

      Plus, this is slashdot; if you can't View Source and grab the text from there, you owe us a geek card. Once you're returned it to us, these nice gentlemen behind me will put down their guns and offer you a drink as they kindly escort you from the premesis...

      Or they'll through you through a plate glass window; we don't like geek posers.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    22. Re:BRB by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      eh... typo... first one to find it wins the Pedant of the Year award...

      and a swift kick in the ass.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    23. Re:BRB by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1

      I wasn't rebutting anything, I was providing a link with more info on the subject. I really don't care what people who can't be bothered to read think.

      The internet 'standard' generally works like this:

      1. Person makes claim.
      2. critic posts snopes link, indicating that it is a false urban legend.

      Linking snopes in support of a statement is like scratching your temple with your middle finger while walking past a cop.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    24. Re:BRB by treeves · · Score: 1

      I don't think there is a good non-metric unit for such a small mass.
      100 pg/m^3 would be 2.5x10^-9 ounces per cubic yard (!)

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
    25. Re:BRB by ResidntGeek · · Score: 2, Funny

      Which typo? There are two.

      --
      ResidntGeek
    26. Re:BRB by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Here's your award. Sorry, I only have one to give; you've earned two, though.

      Oh, before I forget, here's your two swift kicks in the ass.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    27. Re:BRB by ae1294 · · Score: 1

      besides, this is Slashdot, there needs to be some techie information or link, such as, how did they determine that currency has traces of drugs?

      Duh man, they smoked it... how else would you suggest they go about figuring it out...

  2. Well I don't know about cocaine by tolan-b · · Score: 1, Informative

    But I can often smell our neighbours' cannabinoids. (Barcelona btw)

    1. Re:Well I don't know about cocaine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Wait, you're sitting in Barcelona and commenting on slashdot.

      You get the supergeek of the year award :)

    2. Re:Well I don't know about cocaine by SnarfQuest · · Score: 1

      Don't they have laws about cleaning up after their pets in Barcelona? If they won't take care of them, they should probably not have them.

      --
      Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
    3. Re:Well I don't know about cocaine by Psyborgue · · Score: 2, Funny

      pot, not pets. cannabis, not canines. reread.

    4. Re:Well I don't know about cocaine by tolan-b · · Score: 1

      Well I live here, still have to 'work' ;)

  3. Personal Use Pot is Legal in Spain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Up to three plants per person.

    1. Re:Personal Use Pot is Legal in Spain by spanky+the+monk · · Score: 1

      so civilised!

    2. Re:Personal Use Pot is Legal in Spain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Harvest has come. This time it was Blueberry. Barcelona is awesome.

  4. Kind of like Dune by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Giant airscrubbers on every block, faithfully tended by the loyal.

    --
    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    1. Re:Kind of like Dune by stoned_hamster · · Score: 1

      Sign me up! besides, all of that cocaine in the air has to pass through the scrubbers, and that's where I'll be standing: Right at the front of one of those things! just imagine the buzzzzzzzzzzz

      --
      Smoking cures cancer. Smoking also cures stupidity. check darwinawards . com for some stupid stuff
    2. Re:Kind of like Dune by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      besides, all of that cocaine in the air has to pass through the scrubbers

      Awesome! I didn't even think about that when I wrote the original post! Honest!

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  5. Actually.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your local drug area should be fine.
    Maybe your own room, considering your first thought on the matter.
    Wont somebody think of the children?

  6. That explains Manuel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    He's from Barcelona.

    1. Re:That explains Manuel by LoRdTAW · · Score: 1, Funny

      C-K-What?

    2. Re:That explains Manuel by CZakalwe · · Score: 1

      Faulty?? What's wrong with him?

  7. Who still breathes CITY air? by CountOfJesusChristo · · Score: 5, Funny

    So this is how they will finally get people to buy bottled air?

    1. Re:Who still breathes CITY air? by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, the brand is going to be "PerriAir"

    2. Re:Who still breathes CITY air? by JackSpratts · · Score: 2, Funny

      Anything but DerriAir.

    3. Re:Who still breathes CITY air? by AstroWeenie · · Score: 2

      Anything but DerriAir.

      This reminds me of the proposed new state motto for Wisconsin: "Come Smell Our Fresh Dairy Air". But the popular winner in the statewide vote was "Eat Cheese or Die!"

      Unfortunately the state declined both of these suggestions and decided to stick with the old slogan, "America's Dairyland".

    4. Re:Who still breathes CITY air? by ErikInterlude · · Score: 1

      I know you're joking, but we actually have something close to that. I work for a company that makes room and whole-house air purifiers. The president of our company was so sure of our products that he took one of our room air purifiers and sealed himself in a room filled with tear gas. He had goggles on to protect his eyes, but no gas mask. He basically just kept his nose by the vents of the air purifier and waited until the tear gas had dissipated.

      When I first started with the company, I thought people were pulling my leg when they told me about it, but then I finally saw the video. I have to say, that was pretty neat.

      --

      --Erik
    5. Re:Who still breathes CITY air? by Lightzout · · Score: 1

      Ka-ching, what happened to the air bars?

  8. Mmm... by BJC · · Score: 1

    Is that why sourdough tastes so nice in San Francisco?

  9. What about.... by Yuan-Lung · · Score: 2

    downtown Vancouver?


    I kinda wonder how much of the 'good stuff' is in our air..

    Sometimes I get a bit of a buzz just walking down the street after work to the bus stop.

    1. Re:What about.... by spstrong · · Score: 1

      I get an "After work" buzz too, but it doesn't have anything to do with the air (other than it's NOT recycled cubicle air!)

    2. Re:What about.... by smithmc · · Score: 1

      downtown Vancouver?

      I kinda wonder how much of the 'good stuff' is in our air..

      Not enough.

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
  10. Got to say this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Spanish air cocaine for anyone?

  11. Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Think about how small that is, and how large a cubic meter is. I'm not impressed. You can find a few molecules of almost anything almost everywhere, if you have sensitive enough equipment.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    1. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by lobiusmoop · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't knock it, people have made millions by working with similar concentrations.

      --
      "I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
    2. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by GigsVT · · Score: 1

      Under US law, the air would be illegal to knowingly possess.

      But then, so is Beef (contains GHB).

      http://www.ceri.com/cti.htm

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    3. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by tshetter · · Score: 1

      Getting positives for pot smoke in the air I can see being reasonable. Cocaine, opiates, perscriptions or other drug traces in sewage water...maybe...

      But LSD in the AIR? No damn way what so ever.

      How do you even detect such a minute amount to begin with? What is the actual process? (Serious there)

      Unless this is replicated there must be some contamination.

    4. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by jollyreaper · · Score: 1, Funny

      Think about how small that is, and how large a cubic meter is. I'm not impressed. You can find a few molecules of almost anything almost everywhere, if you have sensitive enough equipment.

      Did she believe you?

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    5. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Nick+Ives · · Score: 1

      They didn't detect LSD, they detected lysergic acid. Lysergic acid is used in the production of LSD so most likely they happened to air near a clandestine lab.

      Methinks a weekend in Madrid is in order :)

      --
      Nick
    6. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      What you can't see; but what really matters in that case, is the gullibility concentration.

    7. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Nick+Ives · · Score: 1

      happened to air

      Doh, happened to sample air...

      --
      Nick
    8. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by cyberchondriac · · Score: 2

      Don't knock it, people have made millions by working with similar concentrations.

      I have an open enough mind that some people might claim my brain could fall out sometimes, but the last thing on earth I could ever believe in is homeopathy - particularly it's secondary notion that diluting and succussing a substance makes it stronger.
      What a racket. You can milk the tiniest amounts of herbal or medicinal supplies over and over and make a fortune.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    9. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by SnarfQuest · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sorry, but the concentrations in the air is far too high to be effective, according to the homeopathic cultists. You'd have to dilute it down by at least another 100,000:1.

      --
      Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
    10. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by PMuse · · Score: 1

      Think about how small that is, and how large a cubic meter is. I'm impressed. Picograms per cubic meter?

      If 1 m^3 of air weighs about 1.2kg, then they're into measuring something like 1 part in 41,000,000,000,000.* Now, I'm not in the air quality business (so I'll appreciate being set straight on my math and my expectations), but that sounds pretty darned sensitive to me.

      (*Not accounting for the relative weights of cocaine v various air molecules.)

      --
      "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
    11. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by knightperson · · Score: 1

      Aren't most air contaminants measured in parts per million or parts per billion? We are talking about picograms per cubic meter. A cubic meter of air weighs around 1 kilogram, so we are talking about 10 to the minus 12 grams per 1000 grams, or 15 decimal places difference. 29 to 850 parts per thousand trillion. I don't even know what comes after trillion! That's a concentration so low that you could find basically anything at that level. Completely meaningless statistic.

    12. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Incadenza · · Score: 2, Informative

      Think about how small that is, and how large a cubic meter is. I'm not impressed. You can find a few molecules of almost anything almost everywhere, if you have sensitive enough equipment.

      You will be impressed when you travel from Barcelona to Dubai. In Dubai they have a minimum 4-year jail sentence for possession of drugs, with no lower limit for the amount of drugs. If they can jail you for 3mg stuck to the sole of your shoe or the poppy seeds from your bagel, then you'll want to use the plane's emergency oxygen for cleaning your lungs before landing. Unless you want to breath Dubai air for 4 years in a row.

    13. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by e-Flex · · Score: 1

      Doesn't the human spinal cord contain GHB too?

    14. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, homeopathic drug abuse as a crime would fun target for the war against drugs. "Did you smell the air, sir? No? Move along, then."

    15. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 1

      I'm sure the Slashdot reading public will forgive you because your user ID is only three digits. To think, we were naive enough back then to use our real names on here. ;^)

    16. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 1

      Yes, as well as DMT, a Schedule I hallucinogen.

      Turn yourself in at once.

      --
      Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
    17. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by goarilla · · Score: 1

      LS & LSA still gets you to trip, although not on the same level as LSD
      LSA is the active compound of morning glory for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_glory

    18. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by f0rk · · Score: 1

      If you are talking about the myth that DMT is released when you dream, then you are wrong. Its just a myth. But I would still like mythbusters to check it out - just in case.

    19. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 1

      DMT does occur in the human brain, but its function is not understood. A connection to dreams (especially lucid dreams) has been hypothesized, but not proven.

      --
      Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
    20. Re:Less than a billionth of a gram per cubic meter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like some other guy said, measurements in other cities were several times smaller.

  12. Hmm by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    According to the picture, Nicoderm CQ is the new smack.

  13. LSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But LSD is psychoactive at such low doses, I wonder if it actually does affect people.

    1. Re:LSD by geekgirlandrea · · Score: 1

      LSD is psychoactive at low doses that are still five orders of magnitude larger than the concentration per cubic meter they reported for cocaine. I'm guessing that whatever concentration they found for LSD was a lot lower than that.

    2. Re:LSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      im sorry. I have to say it:
      Don't you mean LDS?

    3. Re:LSD by GigsVT · · Score: 1

      How would LSD get into the air? People don't snort it, and smoking it would destroy it.

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    4. Re:LSD by QRDeNameland · · Score: 2, Informative

      But LSD is psychoactive at such low doses, I wonder if it actually does affect people.

      If you RTFA carefully (yeah yeah, I know), they didn't actually find LSD but lysergic acid which is a "precursor for a wide range of ergoline alkaloids that are produced by the ergot fungus and some plants".

      I'm not a chemist, but the two possibilities I see is that (a) it is naturally occurring; or (b) someone in the area is running an acid lab (probably more likely). Either way, plain lysergic acid will not have any hallucinogenic/entheogenic effects at those minute concentrations.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    5. Re:LSD by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      I usually inhale more than a cubic meter of air in a day.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    6. Re:LSD by genik76 · · Score: 1

      An adult inhales ca. 10.000 liters (10 cubic meters) per day, which is still only one order of magnitude more than 1 cubic meter.

    7. Re:LSD by geekgirlandrea · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you consume around 500 mL of air up to 20 times a minute, which comes to 14.4 cubic meters per day. I somehow doubt this is going to make a difference.

    8. Re:LSD by SydShamino · · Score: 1

      How much of that air do you exhale?

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
    9. Re:LSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends which orifice...

    10. Re:LSD by steveb3210 · · Score: 1

      LSD in the presence of light/oxygen rapidly degrades to ISO-LSD which is inactive. Its been called an exquisitely delicate molecule.

    11. Re:LSD by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      Much more than I inhale, because all of it is hot.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    12. Re:LSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Glad someone said it.

    13. Re:LSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (b) someone in the area is running an acid lab (probably more likely)

      Not really, ergot fungus is pretty common in naturally occurring (i.e. non-farmed) plants, especially in rye.

  14. Primordial soup by goombah99 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We just learned earlier today that RNA is found in primordial soup. That's a lot more complex than a cocaine molecule. I bet you could find cocaine in primoridal soup too.

    Indeed it's cocaine's simmilarity to other molecules in your blood that makes it work. One suspects therefore that because natural selection chose to use those as the currency for nuerotransmission that it's because they were present to begin with.

    (to understand that you have to appreciate the standard model of the evolution of metabolic pathways. the model says, initially organims will just recruit some abundant molecule as their feedstock or for a transmitter. As that molecule starts to deplete the oranisms will evolve some synthetic pathway for producing that molecule from some other abundant sources. and so on till you get to a situation where the original molecule is scarce but is still used by the system.

    thus the fact that we have receptors for cocaine-like molecules suggests that maybe cocaine like molecules were naturally abundant in pre-evolutionary times.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Primordial soup by DarrenBaker · · Score: 1, Funny

      It might just mean that after millions of years of putting things in our mouths, we happened to find one that hit that receptor, and helped us 'study for the big test tomorrow'.

    2. Re:Primordial soup by EvilBudMan · · Score: 2, Informative

      Uh Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, +4 Informative? Should be +5 Funny! I really wanna see some citations here.

    3. Re:Primordial soup by doti · · Score: 1, Funny

      thus the fact that we have receptors for cocaine-like molecules suggests that maybe cocaine like molecules were naturally abundant in pre-evolutionary times.

      so you're suggesting that, instead of going to barcelona, it would be better for him to travel back in time to the biogenesis era?

      --
      factor 966971: 966971
    4. Re:Primordial soup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And where can I buy some of this "Primordial soup"? It sounds tasty...

    5. Re:Primordial soup by Main+Gauche · · Score: 2, Funny

      Today's moderators are from Spain.

      Come to think of it, it's not just today.

    6. Re:Primordial soup by SlashWombat · · Score: 4, Funny

      And where can I buy some of this "Primordial soup"? It sounds tasty...

      I'm sure roughly half the restaurants I have been to were serving this, but calling it something else.

    7. Re:Primordial soup by johanatan · · Score: 0

      That sounds like circular reasoning to me.

    8. Re:Primordial soup by hey! · · Score: 3, Funny

      We just learned earlier today that RNA is found in primordial soup.

      I'd send it back, then.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    9. Re:Primordial soup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better review your grade school geometry book then, it's linear.

    10. Re:Primordial soup by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1

      so you're suggesting that, instead of going to barcelona, it would be better for him to travel back in time to the biogenesis era?

      Just don't step on any insects while you are there. I just finished clearing the doughnuts from yesterday's rainstorm.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
  15. Prague by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 1

    And, in Prague you would probably smell old beer belches?

    1. Re:Prague by mobby_6kl · · Score: 5, Funny

      As a current resident of Prague, I can confirm that the predominant smell in the city is indeed beer in any of its three forms: the hops-scented beverage, vomit, and piss.

    2. Re:Prague by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 1

      And, in Prague you would probably smell old beer belches?

      Farts. You'd smell the beer farts much more than the beer belches.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
  16. Theory: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It came from all the currency floating around.

  17. higher by Smivs · · Score: 1

    So, the higher you go, the higher you get?

  18. You're being ripped off by tobiah · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows Arrowhead Pure Mountain Air is bottled in Atlanta.

    --
    "The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
  19. Only coked out scientists by HandleMyBidness · · Score: 2, Funny

    Would be arrogant enough to name their operation "Superior Council".

  20. Molecular weight by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 4, Informative

    As I recall from my...err, never mind when that was...LSD is a relatively heavy molecule to be floating around. To have even a picogram detectable would imply a lot being manufactured.

    1. Re:Molecular weight by jgrahn · · Score: 1
      A

      s I recall from my...err, never mind when that was...LSD is a relatively heavy molecule to be floating around. To have even a picogram detectable would imply a lot being manufactured.

      Especially since one trip is only around 100 micrograms or so ...

      But the article said "lysergic acid -- a relative of LSD ..." so it might just as like have been something not related to drug use. Lots of ergot-infected grass around?

    2. Re:Molecular weight by tshetter · · Score: 1

      But even with a large scale operation you arent creating that much LSD. If you are staying somewhere around 1g = 10,000 doses at 100ug, and even a huge operation doing millions of dosages...I highly doubt very much is evaporating or spilling.

      Add to the fact it is then highly dilute in liquid and very stable on blotter...I dont buy this a bit.

    3. Re:Molecular weight by SnarfQuest · · Score: 1

      As I recall from my...err, never mind when that was...LSD is a relatively heavy molecule to be floating around. To have even a picogram detectable would imply a lot being manufactured.

      It should be easy to check for. LSD causes concentration problems and hallucinations in most... Oooh look, ponies!

      --
      Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  21. Terrance McKenna by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    WHAT???? No Cough Syrup was detected?!!!!
      I call TOTAL bullshit on the detection of lysergic acid*.
    No way in hell even a GratefulDead concert would emit a detectable amount! Just more preposterous lies about all drugs are all bad, um-kay!?
    *unless its not from microgram qtys of the drug LSD, but from an industrial source of another chemical that fools the detector - most likely just lying, so why not throw in PCP and BZ while they are at it?

    1. Re:Terrance McKenna by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 1

      I call TOTAL bullshit on the detection of lysergic acid*.

      Agreed. However, there are many natural sources of lysergine derivatives, and it's just possible there may have been contamination of the survey from a local gardening store. Examples include the Morning Glory and Hawaiian Baby Rosewood seeds (the latter may also be coated in strychnine - watch out). Then again, contamination is more likely to be at detectable levels if one of the technicians setting up the equipment had handled a few blotters recently...

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
  22. Makes me wonder... by ecotax · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is it still legal to breathe there?

    --
    "Money is a sign of poverty." - Iain Banks
    1. Re:Makes me wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Breathing is still legal for now, but they've been taking serious steps toward curbing it in the general populace.

  23. breathdeep? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously? breathdeep? Do the people who tag these stories not know the difference in "breath" and "breathe"?

    Maybe I shouldn't expect so much from the group who automatically tag stories withcorrelationisnotcausation, even if there's no claim of causation (or even correlation sometimes) in the story; haha anytime someone makes a blunder; whatcouldpossiblygowrong any time something risky is done; etc.

    The tagging system is broken.

  24. From someone in Barcelona. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I allways thought that the mist in my university Bar was Lost's "Thing" little brother...

  25. Yay more useless studies. by yourassOA · · Score: 1

    I could probably set up an air monitoring station in a public bathroom or just outside the door. And then be like "Oh no I have detected large amounts of feces in the air. Someone must have farted nearby whatever will we do? Curse you burrito, curse you!"

  26. Not "Anglo-Saxon" Enough by srussia · · Score: 1

    Would be arrogant enough to name their operation "Superior Council".

    They should have gone with "Higher Body".

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
  27. types www.cheapflights.com by hh4m · · Score: 0, Redundant

    /me is off to Spain, adios amigos...

  28. Homeopathy by geekgirlandrea · · Score: 1

    So, it's basically 15X cocaine, except diluted in air instead of water. Must be a great buzz. The downside: it's so addictive you die within minutes as soon as you stop breathing.

  29. Almost all low cost downtown apartment buildings.. by yourassOA · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Reek like crack cocaine. See the hallway in an apartment is designed as a giant cold air duct. Air comes out of the room into the hallway under the door. Then through the stairways. Thats why there is always the breeze when you open the fire door it is air getting sucked out of the building. If you live in an apartment check out the gap under your door it is required to be there by building and fire codes. Feel the draft?

  30. Diabolical laughter by laederkeps · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nobody expects the spanish intoxication!

    1. Re:Diabolical laughter by SEWilco · · Score: 1

      Nobody expects the Spanish inhalation!

    2. Re:Diabolical laughter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's racist, homes!

  31. Unreported marijuana pollen levels by flanksteak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I grew up suffering from allergies in Phoenix and I remember reading the various pollen levels in the paper every morning during spring. I could see the different types of pollen levels and decide on whether or not to take my sleep-inducing antihistamines (this was waaay before Claritin and Zyrtec were readily available).

    I later read that the local pollen reporting organization was prohibited from reporting the levels of marijuana pollen in the air, even though it often jumped into the top 5. I don't think I'm allergic to bud pollen, but I felt bad for those who were.

    1. Re:Unreported marijuana pollen levels by mr_stinky_britches · · Score: 1

      whereabouts do you reside?

      --
      Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.
    2. Re:Unreported marijuana pollen levels by Meekuu · · Score: 1

      ...I don't think I'm allergic to bud pollen...

      I don't think I ever saw someone allergic to bud pollen. Not even when the bud was smoked. Maybe if it was baked in a cookie with some milk. Lactose intolerance it's a bitch...

    3. Re:Unreported marijuana pollen levels by hairykrishna · · Score: 1

      None of the commercial growers would be producing any pollen. Female plants are grown exclusively; either from female only seeds or by killing off the male plants long before they produce pollen.

      --
      "Physics is to math as sex is to masturbation." -R. Feynman
  32. Homeopathy by dimethylxanthine · · Score: 0

    LMAO!

  33. Spanish Fly... by gmac63 · · Score: 1

    So can we _now_ agree there _is_ such a thing as Spanish Fly? Huh?

    --

    INSERT INTO comment VALUE('Doh!') WHERE user='you';
  34. Take It To The Limit by DynaSoar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Which absurdum shall we reducto it to?

    It's Spanish air, which is to say the air in Spain. Except it's not, it's a couple cities. But it's just the part of those cities that have more of the stuff we're measuring. What's next, a particular apartment building? But really it's Carlos's flat. Mostly in the bedroom. Under the bed. Down by the foot of it. In that box there. No not that one, the other one, the one with the drugs in it. Yeah that's it, that's the air in Spain.

    It's that air in those areas of those cities which is the Spanish air, and it has drugs in it. So the air in Europe is laced with drugs. Of course that means earth's atmosphere contains cocaine. In other words it's the solar system, meaning our galaxy, so it's the universe that has drugs in it. It's all the same, right?

    So nice of them to be so honest about overgeneralizing. Right there in the headline and summary it says one thing except no, it says something else. Thankfully this takes all the pressure off the author when it comes to pesky details like accuracy and precision and stuff, and lets us get right to the business of it being important and all. That important thingy is what makes it important. Just as long as it's it's important, such as being Spanish air rather than some air samples from the drug areas of a couple large cities, that makes it newsworthy here on dot. And by that I mean slash. Or maybe some of each, it doesn't really matter. Oh, wait, there's more to it than that. It needs to have something more than important stuff to get posted. It should have some words. Doesn't matter which ones, because what it means can change from one sentence to the next in order to make it worth reading.

    --
    "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
  35. In other news... by zig43 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Junkie hospitalized after attempting to smoke air filter.

  36. Time has come to end the insanity by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We've got to end this insane war on drugs. Legalize them, regulate them and tax them at a level that won't promote a black market.

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    1. Re:Time has come to end the insanity by e-Flex · · Score: 1

      Not totally relevant but I agree.

    2. Re:Time has come to end the insanity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you regulate a drug that has no real value? What are we going to have bars sell cocaine? They do already in the restrooms so I guess no real difference right? What would the purpose of supporting a chemical that does so much damage to your brain and to a persons life? What purpose would legalizing a drug like that have? There will still be a black market even if you legalize it. Just because you legalize something does not mean people will stop importing it or selling it out of their back yard.

  37. Know what they call a cubic meter of air in Spain? by serutan · · Score: 4, Funny

    A Royale.

  38. Harbinger by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's probably not long before cops with tricorder-like gizmos stop people on the street for being high.

  39. Anesthetic gases are found in the air too by olddoc · · Score: 1

    There is a natural concentration of ~300pp billion of Nitrous Oxide in the atmosphere according to this reference at Encyclopedia of Earth: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Nitrous_oxide

    --
    Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  40. 28 million molecules per breath by cowtamer · · Score: 1

    Seriously, you can probably find "29 and 850 picogram per cubic meter of air" of anything in air...

    Molecular mass of cocaine = 303.353 g/ mol

    29 picograms in 1000 L = .029 picograms in 1 L = 17 464 210 350 amu in 1 L / 303.353 amu = 57,570,587 molecules per liter / 2 = 28,785,293.5 molecules per breath

    Grab your breathing masks!!!
    [I'm sure my dimensions are off...but I don't think I'm that far off the estimate]

  41. i think it was carl sagan's cosmos by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    where he did some back of the envelope calculations... lung capacity, lifetime, time since death, amount of atoms in the air, relative rate of organic material exchange with the atmosphere, dispersal rates, etc...

    and he came to the remarkable (or, rather, unremarkable) conclusion that every time you inhale, you inhale something like 200 atoms of socrates. i mean, 200 atoms that made up the living, breathing philosopher from ancient greece. go ahead, inhale: 200 atoms of the man known as socrates just went inside you

    i guess you really need to "inhale" to find transcendant trippiness over that fact i suppose ;-)

    anyway, look: they are talking picogram quantities here. whatever. you can find picogram quantities of all sorts of outlandish stuff in the air of any city. anthrax, estrogen, plutonium... its all rather sensationalistic and pointless

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:i think it was carl sagan's cosmos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, is your movie available for download yet? Ive seen your sig for years. Release it!

    2. Re:i think it was carl sagan's cosmos by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 1

      I did a little research online and it seems like we are breathing the same air that Socrates breathed, not breathing Socrates himself. Now all I can think of is Bill and Ted. Dude! ;^)

  42. it's not just Spanish Air by blackfrancis75 · · Score: 1

    Drug smugglers use other airlines too you know!

  43. Re:Know what they call a cubic meter of air in Spa by BigBlueOx · · Score: 1

    +1 ROTFL o de week

  44. ...Gone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Oh Man this just gets better and better...

  45. Ahem... High Drug Areas? by gringofrijolero · · Score: 1

    Can't wait for the color coded map. "There is no stopping in the red zone"

    --
    Todos mis movimientos están friamente calculados
  46. Re:Know what they call a cubic meter of air in Spa by geekgirlandrea · · Score: 1

    Does it come with a $5 shake?

  47. Hmm... maybe it wasn't due to books by psychcf · · Score: 1

    Don Quixote anyone?

  48. Plaza Mayor by slack_justyb · · Score: 1

    You are standing in the Plaza Mayor De Madird.

    The smell of cocaine and opiates fills the thick air. Dusk is coming and an unsavory(?) group of people are starting to form around you.

    To the North is a vendor selling tourist souvenirs, you think, to the South is a guy hunched over a small folding table. There are exits to the North-East and West.

    You will likely be eaten by El Grue de Espana.

    What will you do?

  49. sooooo by sgt+scrub · · Score: 1

    mexico = "don't drink the water".
    spain = "don't breath the air".

    got it. brb

    --
    Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
    1. Re:sooooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      us = "don't eat the food".

  50. So let me get this straight... by pluther · · Score: 5, Funny

    The rain in Spain will be full of cocaine?

    --
    If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
  51. Daydreaming in Spain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's why daydreaming is more common in Spain. It's not because of the sun or the beautiful beaches.

  52. Lysergic Acid??? by Ignatius+D'Lusional · · Score: 1

    As in Lysergic Acid Diethylamide? As in friggin' LSD? In the AIR??? OK... considering that people traditionally ingest LSD and don't SMOKE it, that's some very interesting information. Sounds like someone's making a giant batch in Madrid/Barcelona!

  53. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  54. Global analyze by Mr+Europe · · Score: 1

    Now put that anlyzer on the Google street view car running all over in cities! Usable or at least interesting information on all cities. Where NOT to live.

  55. Old news, sort of by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess they were not rolling the bills properly. Such a waste.

  56. The hours there by olclops · · Score: 1

    Spaniards don't eat dinner till 11PM at the earliest, and don't generally wrap up the day till 2AM. I would imagine cocaine is pretty much a necessity to survive in that culture.

  57. And the quantity... by sean.peters · · Score: 1

    Not to mention the fact that we're talking about almost absurdly tiny quantities of drugs here. When you get down to discussing picograms/m3, you're talking really tiny amounts. I'd be really interested in knowing the size of the error bars on these measurements.

  58. Bag o' White Castles and a 6-pack by motherpusbucket · · Score: 1

    Do the air analysis on the air after that!

    --
    "You can't really dust for vomit" --Nigel Tufnel
  59. LSD can't be in the air. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's extremely fragile and destroyed in light. Maybe at night, but it's very, very doubtful. It's such an extremely fragile chemical, it would be totally impossible. That makes me suspect the other findings are BS as well.