Police Test Handheld Methamphetamine Detector
November 12th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
Police in Missouri and Arizona are field-testing a new handheld device that the manufacturer claims can detect traces of methamphetamine on clothing, skin, and other surfaces, USA Today reported Nov. 5.
The device, made by CDEX of Tucson, Ariz., uses ultraviolet light to detect traces of the drug as small as one microgram, according to CEO Malcolm Philips. The scanner can distinguish between illegal meth and pseudoephedrine, a chemically similar but legal component of cold medications.
Initial tests of the device found that police officers had a hard time aiming the device, so CDEX added a laser pointer. Police say that while the device probably would not be used to obtain search warrants in drug cases, it would be useful in investigations.
But Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and Liberty Program at the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the device should be independently tested for accuracy before being deployed by police. “There are a lot of technologies that are pitched to law enforcement that don’t work,” Steinhardt said.
Besides questions about the validity of a positive scan result to prompt a judge to issue a search warrant, there also are concerns about the implications of detecting trace amounts of drugs on money and other items passed from person to person.
The device is expected to hit the marketplace in February and cost between $2,500 and $5,000.