--- title: Your Fingerprint Can Reveal Cocaine Use description: Scientists can tell if a person does drugs like cocaine through their fingerprints canonical: https://time.com/3860207/fingerprint-cocaine-use/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-15T18:12:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:15.292Z article:section: Health og:title: Your Fingerprint Can Reveal Cocaine Use og:description: A new way to accurately test for drugs may be through your fingerprint og:url: https://time.com/3860207/fingerprint-cocaine-use/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Fingerprint Can Reveal Cocaine Use twitter:description: A new way to accurately test for drugs may be through your fingerprint twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Your Fingerprint Can Reveal Cocaine Use > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: How $1,000 Could Help Your Health [Watch (HLS stream): How $1,000 Could Help Your Health](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EILRa37f.m3u8) (2:01)  _Published 2014-08-22. From acupuncture to yoga, $1,000 can go a long way to improving your health._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 15, 2015 6:12 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 15, 2015 6:12 PM UTC Scientists can already tell from people’s fingerprints if they’ve touched cocaine, but [a new study](http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/an/c5an00112a#!divAbstract) goes one step further, showing that fingerprints can now also reveal whether a person has ingested the drug. The study, published in _Analyst,_ may pave the way for simpler drug testing that doesn’t require urine or blood. In a small study, a team of researchers analyzed the fingerprints of a handful of patients in drug treatment centers using a process called mass spectrometry. Someone who uses cocaine excretes components of metabolized cocaine called benzoylecgonine and methylecgonine. The study authors showed they were able to detect the cocaine components in the residue left by the patients’ fingerprints on glass through the mass spectormetry chemical analysis technique. “These results provide exciting opportunities for the use of fingerprints as a new sampling medium for secure, non-invasive drug detection,” the researchers write in their study. “The mass spectrometry techniques used here offer a high level of selectivity and consume only a small area of a single fingerprint, allowing repeat and high throughput analyses of a single sample.” If such a technique could be made portable, the researchers believe it could possibly provide a simpler and less invasive alternative to current drug testing. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] $ 1, 000 can really put you on the road to good health, or at least to better health. A lot of workers say that they're really stressed, unless productive. But half of workers say that stress makes them less productive at work. And there are a lot of studies that show that people who are more stressed have higher medical bills. And that makes sense. If you are stressed you may miss more work. You may go, go to doctor more often. So if you can invest $ 1000, you can really improve your health and lower your own costs. Yoga is a great way to reduce stress. It helps you with deep breathing, relaxation exercises. And a mindfulness that can really reduce your tension. Yoga classes cost about $ 15 to $ 20 each, at, that would get you doing downward dog about twice a week for six months. Acupuncture is another great way to reduce stress. It may be covered by your health insurance, so check that first. If not, acupuncture sessions cost about $ 16 to $ 120. Modern exercise has been proven as a great way to reduce stress. To incorporate it on a regular basis in your busy life, consider riding your bike to and from work. Or, taking a bike ride when you get home from work in the evening. Now, a good bike can cost you $ 1000. But think of it as a long- term investment, a good bike will last you many. If you have 10 thousand dollars, there's a lot you can do to invest in your health. A personal trainer, may give you the motivation you need to exercise, that you might not be able to do on your own. That costs you about 50 dollars a session, which could give you about 100 sessions, that you could spread out over two years. Another great way to. T find someone to motivate you is to consult a nutritionist. A first- time session with a nutitionist will cost about $ 150. But, if you wanna do follow- up sessions, to create say a health plan to see how you're doing, that'll cost you about $ 100. See if your health insurance may cover that, as well. 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