Missouri state troopers and an Arizona sheriff's office are testing a device that can detect minute quantities of methamphetamine. The scanner "might signal the turning point in the war against one of the country's greatest drug scourges," writes Pete Smith of the Springfield News-Leader in Missouri. "But before police can begin widespread use of the scanner, it has to overcome several hurdles."
Those include confirming the hand-held scanner's reliability, obtaining investment for manufacturing and marketing, and overcoming objections of defense attorneys and civil libertarians. "Regardless of the obstacles, the meth scanner will likely debut in the coming months," Smith writes. (Read more)
The scanner is made by CDEX Inc. of Tuscon. Its CEO, Malcolm Philips, told The Associated Press that the company expects to begin marketing the scanner in December and have it available by February. The firm "decided to test it in Missouri because of the high number of meth labs there," AP reports. "In Arizona, the scanner is being tested by Greenlee County Sheriff's Office, where it played a role in two busts," according to Philips, but prosecutors have not based any evidence on it.
Springfield defense lawyer Stacie Bilyeu told AP, "Any time you have testing of a device by someone who stands to make a lot of money off of it, I am always suspect of that. If the testing was done by unbiased, nonpartisan groups, the results would be more reliable." She said use of the device could constitute an illegal search, and should not establish guilt. "This scanner only detects chemicals, not criminal conduct." (Read more)
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