Chemical Test IDs Currency Associated with Drugs

Scientific American ^ | July 6, 2005 | Sarah Graham

[Phantom Lord]

With 80% of our paper currency contaminated by traceable amounts of illegal drugs, everyone is going to be guilty.

[William Terrell]

Quite the drama queen you is.

Terrifying it is.

By this judicial philosophy, if you have one bill that used to belong to a cocaine trafficker in a bundle you intend to make a large cash purchase (for instance, a restored classic car, many owners of which demand cash) then you are to be found guilty of drug trafficking, unless you can prove a negative.

Try to think about these things in some depth beyond your conditioned prejudices. They have implications for all Americans, including you.

[Tox107]

A recent scientific paper also found Marijuana on United States and foreign currency.

"Cannabis (Marijuana) Contamination of United States and Foreign Paper Currency", in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, September 2004, pp.439-442, examined 165 random bills from the USA and a hand full of foreign countries.

The researchers from Cleveland, Ohio found trace amount of Marijuana or Marijuana related compounds on U.S. $1 currency, THC (marijuana) was present in 1.6% (2 notes), CBN 10.31% (13 notes), CBD 1.6% (2 notes).

Remember it is well known that United States paper currency in general circulation is contaminated with trace
amounts of illicit substances such as cocaine, heroin
and marijuana.

the article stated, As is the case with cocaine, differentiating “background levels” of the various
cannabinoid constituents of marijuana
namely, D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol
(CBN), and cannabidiol (CBD) contaminating currency
found in the general circulation from currency
associated with illegal drug activity is imperative
if a legal nexus is to be established with the
latter.

They analyzed 165 randomly collected paper
currency notes from 12 U.S. cities (N = 125) and 4
foreign countries (N = 40) for THC, CBD, CBN, 11-nor-
9-carboxy-D9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and 11-hydroxy-D9-
tetrahydrocannabinol.

For the U.S. $1 currency, THC (marijuana) was present in 1.6% (2 notes), CBN 10.31% (13 notes), CBD 1.6% (2 notes).

The For the foreign currency (Colombia, Qatar, India, and New Zealand), THC and CBN were present in 22.5% (9 notes). All of the positive THC and CBN were found in the New Zealand polypropylene notes.

This study indicated that marijuana (cannabinoids)
may contaminate both paper and plastic currency.

http://www.jatox.com/jul-dec04.htm

[Nebr FAL owner]

Thanks to money counting machines in banks the only paper currency in this country that is not contaminated by narcotics residue is the cash sitting in a vault still sealed in plastic wrap & is uncirculated by the Treasury Dept. This could prove to be interesting for the folks counting on this technology .You get busted your money tests positive for drug residue you go to trial & your attorney conducts a experiment .He takes money from the jury the judge & the prosecuter & test them to see how many tests positive.