Tuesday, August 18, 2009

How Much You Holdin'?

Cocaine, I mean. Because if you've got some cash in your pocket or purse (which is not a given, with the economy and all), you've probably got some coke along with it. It's long been argued that coke residue is so prevalent on money that it could lead to, say, false alerts from drug dogs and the like. Now it looks like the science is going to back that up:

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds.

A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found 'alarming' evidence of cocaine use in many areas.

U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.
Washington, D.C. had the highest concentration, at 95 percent. There's a Marion Berry joke in there somewhere, but I haven't found it yet.

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