Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI) Copyright: 2008 The Honolulu Advertiser, Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/uXtrz8Lm Website: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195 Author: Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times SEWAGE A RELIABLE GUIDE TO DRUG ABUSE Which city uses more cocaine: Los Angeles or London? Is heroin a big problem in San Diego? And has Ecstasy emerged in rural America? Environmental scientists are beginning to use an unsavory new tool, raw sewage, to paint an accurate portrait of drug abuse in communities. Like one big, citywide urinalysis, tests at municipal sewage plants in many areas of the United States and Europe have detected illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. Law enforcement officials have long sough a way to make reliable and verifiable calculations of narcotics use, to identify trends and to formulate policies. Surveys, the backbone of drug-use estimates, are only as reliable as the people who answer them. But sewage does not lie. Because people excrete chemicals in urine and flush it down toilets, measuring raw sewage for street drugs can provide quick, fairly precise snapshots of drug use in communities, even on a particular day. The results have been intriguing. Methamphetamine levels in sewage are much higher in Las Vegas than in Omaha, Neb., and Oklahoma City, Los Angeles County has more cocaine in its sewage than several major European cities. And Londoners apparently are heavier users of heroin than people in cities in Italy and Switzerland. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath