For Immediate Release
May 8, 2000
Contact: Christine Stutz
410/706-0023
Pager: 410/471-1735
[email protected]
Pharmacy Professor Developing Better Tests To Detect Illegal Drugs
A University of Maryland professor is lending his expertise to the search for a simple and accurate test for the detection and identification of illegal drugs on surfaces such as desks, computer keyboards and steering wheels. Andrew Coop, PhD, an assistant professor at the School of Pharmacy, has received a grant from Maryland Industrial Partnerships to assist Mistral Security, a Bethesda-based manufacturer of security and law enforcement-related products, in developing such tests.
Mistral is already marketing several kits for the detection and identification of illicit drugs. The current products consist of aerosol spray reagents that immediately turn color when applied to residue of a specific drug, according to Mistral officials. A disadvantage of the current product is that it requires wiping a surface with three different test papers and using several different spray cans in order to test for a variety of drugs.
The goal of Coop's research is to develop a single-step kit with one spray and a single-detection paper sensitive to the full range of commonly used drugs.
Mistral drug-detection kits test for the presence of marijuana/hashish, cocaine and crack, street heroin, and methamphetamine. The only aerosol-delivered drug detection products of their kind, according to the company, they are marketed to schools, parents and law enforcement agencies.
The School of Pharmacy is the state's only graduate pharmacy school and is ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
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