Are There Drugs On That Banknote?

And it seems that the trend for cocaine affected banknotes has been increasing over time.  This is a study which takes place every few years, but the one that took place recently led to a surprising conclusion.  Apparently if you now pick up a US dollar banknote in the US capital of Washington DC, there is only a five per cent chance that it WON’T have cocaine on it somewhere.

If you think these figures are alarming you would be right.  Depending on where you live in the US the figures do vary.  And we should perhaps not be too surprised to learn that the best bills of all in the US came from the city which plays host to the Mormons.  It would seem that the more involved a city is with religion, the less likely they are to have contaminated banknotes as a result.

Now you might be feeling a bit picked on if you are an American and you are now taking a good hard look at the banknotes you have in your wallet or pocket.  But rest assured – if that is an appropriate phrase for the situation – you are not the only ones to be affected in this way.

Banknotes used in Canada are almost as badly affected as those in the US.  And other countries have been shown to have the same problem as well.  The percentage of notes touched by the drug varies, but it is still there.  You can read a recent report from the BBC news website which reveals more about the survey and the results it garnered.  Go here - to find out more.

There are those who believe that things have got worse in recent years as the recession has taken hold.  It certainly does seem to be a worthy explanation of the rise in contaminated notes, although it is probable that nothing but speculation can ever be put forward as a reason for the rise.

The idea is that people have been worrying about their jobs and their income, and they have sought to quell that worry and forget about their circumstances by resorting to taking drugs.  It seems hard to believe that this could be the case in all circumstances though; after all cocaine isn’t cheap and it would seem to be a waste of money more than anything else.  But then, if you are desperate you don’t always think straight and perhaps the idea of being able to forget in this way would be enough for some to get away from reality.

You might feel that you are getting cleaner banknotes if you swap them for a foreign currency before you go on holiday.  But as we have seen, a currency converter may enable you to get a good deal on a foreign currency, but it won’t prevent you from swapping one cocaine tainted banknote for another.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised that banknotes are so affected.  After all they are passed from hand to hand constantly throughout the day.  US banknotes are made primarily from cotton fibers more than anything else, even though we refer to them as paper money.  This is done to ensure they last as long as possible, as they change hands so often and are sometimes treated roughly.

In fact it makes you wonder what else is on those banknotes.  After all we don’t always handle them with pristine clean hands, and if traces of cocaine can be found on them, what else could be present on these bills?

Obviously the newer they are the better they will be and the less chance there is of them being contaminated with anything.  But in reality we have all come across dirty bills that have clearly done the rounds a lot of times.  What could be discovered if those bills were swabbed to find out what they have come into contact with at any point?

It does give us a unique look into our US currency though, doesn’t it?  The next time you handle any denomination of US currency – or even any other currency you change them for – you might wonder where they have been before you got hold of them.  It’s an interesting question that you may or may not want to know the answer to.