The Metropolis

Analysis of London's sewage reveals that ecstasy use here is relatively HIGH

Mike Pollitt | Wednesday 29 August, 2012 12:39

●

A city’s sewage reveals traces of its citizens drug intake, and the details could give anybody interested in evidence-based drug policy some useful facts to work with. The scientific paper says:

“Raw sewage samples from 19 large European cities were collected by the participants of the study during a single week in March 2011 and analyzed for the urinary biomarkers of cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and cannabis.”

What did we learn?

“High per capita ecstasy loads were measured in Dutch cities, as well as in Antwerp and London.”

As mashed as Antwerp!? Well well.

There’s more on this story at Science Daily. The paper is from The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), and the abstract is here.

Filed in:

Snipe Highlights

Some popular articles from past years

  1. Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
  2. Diary of the shy Londoner
  3. Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
  4. An interview with Desiree Akhavan
  5. Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
  6. Silencing the Brick Lane curry touts could be fatal for the city's self-esteem
  7. London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
  8. A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
  9. The five best places in London to have an epiphany
  10. Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?