Mumbai cops to nail drug abusers on the spot

Drug users beware! The Mumbai police are in talks with a medical devices firm to procure a system through which narcotic content can be ascertained within minutes through a saliva test. If purchased, this tool will be the first of its kind to be used in India, the DNA reported today.

u00a0The police said talks are on with Merck Specialities Private Limited, the Indian subsidiary of the Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA, to bring the device, known as the Cozart Drug Detection System, to India.
Prantik Mukherjee, Director-Chemicals, Merck Specialities, told DNA that with problems of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs at an all-time high, there is a considerable demand to step up enforcement capabilities.

"Products such as DDS will give the Indian police a powerful method of detection and serve as a powerful deterrent, revolutionising drug testing at the roadside," he said.

A Merck official said, "The Cozart DDS consists of a DDS instrument, a reagent kit, printer and paper rolls, batteries, battery charger, and AC adapter. A sterilized swab from the reagent kit is used for collecting an oral fluid (or saliva) sample.

"The swab has a sample collection indicator which turns blue once an adequate amount of oral fluid has been collected. This sample is then mixed in a buffer bottle containing a solution for extracting any drug that might be present in the saliva sample. Four drops of this mixture are then added to a test cartridge, which in turn is inserted into the DDS instrument.

"The results then appear on the DDS instrument screen; a printout of these results can also be obtained.Depending on the number of drug types being detected per sample, this process can take any where from 1.5 to 5 minutes."

The police in Britain, Italy and Australia use Cozart DDS for road-side drug testing."Six major drug classes, like cocaine and opiates, can be detected by this system.Apart from the Mumbai Police, we are also in talks with the Kolkata, Chennai, and Cochin police to provide them this system," said the official.

The Mumbai police's Anti-Narcotics Cell is keen to have this product. "It will be useful during raids at rave parties and the results through these products are admissible in the courts. The present methods to detect drugs are outdated and time consuming. Efforts are on to get funds to purchase this product," a senior officer said, requesting anonymity.