Wipe Senses Drug Presence
DrugWipe is a product that grants law enforcement agencies and other bodies a noninvasive means to perform drug tests to find out if a drug problem is present. The DrugWipe is a small applicator with a wipe on one end that can detect invisible signs of drugs on nearly any surface, as well as on people.
The device can detect as little as 2.5 to 10 nanograms of a drug. After detecting the drug, the wipe identifies it as one of four drug classes–amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, or opiates.
DrugWipe was patented nine years ago and adopted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Technology Transfer Program five years ago. The program offers numerous products at no charge to law enforcement groups throughout the United States. Around 400 agencies ask for the product annually; the U.S. Customs Service and the FBI are among DrugWipe’s users.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Cincinnati Enquirer (07/02/03) P. 1D; Baverman, Laura.