Government searching your sewage

[PopHistorian]

I guess this falls under the Spying category, but regardless, I found it awfully interesting as an example of the world of technological use that's going on beneath public notice, and a reminder that much wilder things undoubtedly go on.

_http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/15-06/st_dirtierwar

Drug War Gets Dirtier as What You Flush Becomes Evidence

Think twice before you flush the toilet. You might be sending evidence straight to the authorities — at least if you're getting high in Italy or Switzerland. Scientists there recently did a study in which they tracked narcotic use through municipal sewage systems. Twice a day, at weekly intervals, wastewater was spirited out of treatment plants in Milan and Lugano, dried with a blast of nitrogen, then injected into a mass spectrometer to detect illicit substances. They kept tabs on methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and morphine use for five months. What did they learn? Not surprisingly, meth and cocaine use spiked on Fridays and Saturdays. Overall, drug consumption was nearly double official estimates, which relied on crime data and interviews. It seems people are reluctant to disclose weekend binges. Now they don't have to. It'll all come out in the end.

 

[Ruth]

Yeah they'll 'waste' money on anything these days.

Cor Blimey! Why do scientists NEED to do this?

 

[Zadius Sky]

I am very sorry, but I had to laugh at this. I really hope those scientists are wearing the protective masks when going through all that 'stuffs' because, woo man, them burrios really do you good!

When someone says that you gotta get dirty, those governmental scientists are really taking it too literally to do anything to 'arrest' people for drugs (even though, they're 'down the toilet').

Wilder things do indeed happens.

 

[PopHistorian]

I think it may suggest how desperately the PTB want to know EVERYTHING about us.

 

[dant]

I had to laugh. I can see it. Imagine a wastemeister crawling into a manhole,
putting in a sewer robot with GPS locator), searching for the *specific* waste
pipe to your home or office. Ah HA! Mr/Ms <your name here> had:

1) Too much, too little, or no nicotine found.
2) Too much, too little, or no alcohol found.
3) Too much, too little, or no drugs found.
4) Too much, too little, or no food waste found.
and so on...

Well jokes aside, at least "they" are not sticking a probe direct your orifices (well, your
doctor might) but who really cares so as long as you "stay clean" best as you can?

I am really laughing about this posting as it is very funny, at least to me. :D

 

[Mike]

There is also this story:

http://www.signs-of-the-times.org/articles/show/138716-Scientists+Drug-Test+Whole+Cities

Scientists Drug-Test Whole Cities
Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:30 EDT

Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city's sewer plant.

The test wouldn't be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help federal law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, across the country.

Oregon State University scientists tested 10 unnamed American cities for remnants of drugs, both legal and illegal, from wastewater streams. They were able to show that they could get a good snapshot of what people are taking.[...]

They probably have it all the data dumped into a computer to map it out to see how people are reacting to the various operations of TPTB - 'War on Drugs', 'War on Terror', etc.