Researchers at the University of Sussex have been working on a brand new technology that can detect cocaine use from your fingerprints.
The new test, pioneered by Dr Costa, is more advanced than previous technologies and can actually determine whether you’ve had a wild night out or merely touched a bank note once used for snorting the substance in sesh’s gone by – for all those who thought they’d use this as a loophole.
Using fingerprints alone, new drug-test can determine cocaine handling from cocaine use in new technology set to revolutionise drug testing.
The machine is simple and takes the testee, or subject in question, just ten seconds. Once your fingerprint has been placed on the specialised paper it’s then tested for two different molecules; one that shows you’ve touched the Class A powder and one that shows you’ve definitely had a line or two. Oh, and no amount of hand-washing can remove the molecules entirely; so any hope of hiding your debaucherous habits has gone down the drain.
This noninvasive cocaine test boasts an impressive 95% accuracy rate, and will not just a useful tool for untrusting employers but is predicted to be particularly useful for police forces. The simple test can be adopted in a number of ways to be put to use; such as drug-testing drivers just like a breathalyser and will even be instrumentally valuable for forensic departments at “reconstructing an incident at a crime scene”.
Regardless of whether this advancement in toxicology testing seems like a great leap for the criminal justice system, or simply makes you think twice about your habits on a work night – it’s clear that the new fingerprint testing is set to revolutionise drug testing as we know it.
