Cocaine so common that one in 10 have traces of drug on their fingers

COCAINE is now so prevalent in society that 13 per cent of people who have never used the drug have traces of it on their hands, a new study has shown.

Researchers at the University of Surrey tested the fingerprints of 50 drugfree volunteers and 15 drug users who had taken cocaine or heroin in the past 24 hours. Around 13 per cent of fingerprints of those who had never used the drug were found to contain cocaine, while 1 per cent contained a metabolite of heroin.

The findings lead to concerns that people could be wrongly accused of drug use simply because the environment is contaminated.

In 2015, Alan Bailes, a bus driver, won a claim for unfair dismissal after he was sacked for failing a drugs test because he handled bank notes which carried traces of cocaine.

A study by the Forensic Science Service estimated that every bank note in Britain is contaminated with the class A drug within two weeks of entering circulation. The old cotton bank notes, which are being phased out, are notorious for picking up substances.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate has also previously warned that the metabolised form of cocaine – benzoylecgonine – is present in tap water, while traces of the drugs are regularly detected in public buildings.

Dr Melanie Bailey, a lecturer in forensic analysis at the University of Surrey, said: “Believe it or not, cocaine is a very common environmental contaminant – it is well known that it is present on many bank notes. Even so, we were surprised that it was detected in so many of our fingerprint samples.

“By establishing a threshold for significance on a fingerprint test, we can give those tested the peace of mind of knowing that whatever the result of the test may be, it was not affected by their everyday activities or shaking hands with someone that had taken drugs.”

In recent years, investigations have found evidence of cocaine use at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament and the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. Around 700,000 people aged 16-59 are estimated to take cocaine every year in Britain and about 40,000 people use heroin.