Report: 100% of Irish Euros Contain Cocaine

Forensic techniques that detect even the minutest traces of the drug were used by scientists at Dublin's City University to carry out the study. The researchers were surprised by the results.

Some of the banknotes used in the study had high levels of cocaine and were thought to be used to snort the drug. Other banknotes, with lower traces, were thought to have been contaminated by other means such as in the pockets or wallets of users or in bank counting machines.

The results are similar to previous studies conducted throughout Europe. Euros from Spain, the UK and Germany were also found to have a high percentage of contaminated banknotes.

In Spain, traces of cocaine were found on 94% of euro banknotes. Of the one billion banknotes in circulation in Spain it is estimated that 142 million have been used directly to snort cocaine. Spain has about 475,000 regular cocaine users, one of the highest rates in the world.

A 1999 study in the UK revealed similar results where about 99% of the banknotes tested contained traces of cocaine.

A 2003 study in Germany revealed that almost all euro banknotes in circulation contained traces of cocaine. In 2006, German officials began investigating why some euro banknotes were disintegrating. They are suggesting that methamphetamine, or crystal meth, is causing the corrosion and that the euros have been used to snort these drugs as well.

In many cases, bills of higher denomination such as 20 or 50 contain higher traces of cocaine. The brittle euros in Germany have mostly been 50 euros.

Euros have only been in circulation since 2002. A study in Germany in 2002 found 2 out of every 70 banknotes to be contaminated with cocaine.

While the studies can't provide conclusive evidence of drug use in euro zone countries, there is a clear correlation between the study results and recorded cocaine use in the 12 countries where the euro is in circulation.

Studies in France, Finland and Greece where there is less cocaine use revealed less cocaine on banknotes.

In Ireland, cocaine use is thought to be on the rise and there is a new focus on the use of drugs in the country. A wave of murders in the city of Dublin has been linked to drug dealers and gangs. The justice minister of Ireland has pointed to the purchase of cocaine as a support of these groups and the violence.

One newspaper editorial in Ireland inferred that the overwhelming results of the study, showing that 100% of Ireland's banknotes were contaminated with cocaine, might give new insight to the country's recent economic boom.

Sources:

"Cocaine on 100% of Irish euros" James Helm, BBC News, Dublin, Jan 10 2007.

"Cocaine traces on Spanish euros" BBC News, Dec 25, 2006.

"Brittle euro notes baffle Germans" BBC News, Nov 2, 2006.

"German euros 'full of cocaine'" BBC News, June 25, 2003.