The Chemical Detection of Cocaine-Contaminated Currency - Essay Example

The Chemical Detection of Cocaine-Contaminated Currency Affiliation The Chemical Detection of Cocaine-Contaminated Currency How do law enforcement agencies analyze if a currency note is contaminated with cocaine or not? The paper provided the solution to this question. It notes that, Law enforcement agencies do this with the help of two methods. One is known as gas chromatography. The great method is utilized in the separation of semi-volatile and volatile components in an intricate mixture. In this case, the intricate mixture is made up of the currency paper and cocaine.

The main shortcoming of this great method is that it alone cannot recognize what the separated compounds are. Hence, the second method is needed for recognition. The additional technique is termed as mass spectrophotometry. A technique avails information of the make-up of the particular constituents of the compound on the note. The combination of these two methods is called GC/MS (Acheson, 1991). The method aids in the investigation of cocaine. Cocaine is a banned substance, hence, law enforcers have to ensure that they find the means of how to detect cocaine in clients if any.

According to Acheson(n.d.), cocaine has been use for long. It contains compounds called alkaloids. They are termed as alkaloids as they are basic in acidic media. As a sample, cocaine is interesting as it is said to give a person the feeling of immense power. It also has its many uses in spite of its illegality. Cocaine is obtained from its source as cocaine hydrochloride salt. Why did the study opt for the method and samples used? The study opted to utilize GC/MS technique because it enables of the total identification of the flash (Acheson, 1991).

ReferenceAcheson, E. (1991, 10 16). A Case Study Involing the Chemical Detection of Cocaine-Contaminated currency. Decatur, IL, Kenya. Retrivied from: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/lucre_notes.html.