A New York company has introduced a do-it-yourself drug
detection kit for paranoid parents and suspicious supervisors,
reports The Village Voice (Nov. 14, 2000). American Bio Medica’s
Drug Detector allows wily authority figures to check for marijuana
and cocaine residue by simply wiping a surface with a special paper
and spraying the paper with a chemical. If reddish-brown dots
appear, there’s been marijuana in the vicinity; if blue spots turn
up, cocaine is lurking nearby. Civil libertarians have expressed
alarm over possible abuses of the product, but the company has
issued assurances that they have no hidden agenda. ‘We’re here to
make money for our shareholders, number one,’ says founder and CEO
Stan Cipkowski. ‘The fact that we’re selling a product that we
think is going to help in a parent-child relationship, that’s
number two.’
