Handheld meth gun for drug detection

While the hefty yellow gun developed by CDEX Inc. may look like something from a 80s sci-fi film gone bad, it could eventually end up standard fare in a patrol car. Contrary to the title's implication the meth gun does not shoot uppers at what's in its crosshairs. The flamboyant device cracks down on crime by emitting small amounts of UV radiation onto a suspicious surface which causes most illegal substances to release a "spectral fingerprint" which the meth gun identifies. This investigative aid allows cops to detect and identify drug traces without even knowing (or suspecting) that chemical foul play was involved. The finalized version will scan for essentially any drug you can think of trying, but there's a fair amount of red tape and field testing that must be accomplished before this oversized neon pistol gets whipped out on a regular basis. Priced at around $10,000 this drug-buster isn't exactly cheap, but compared to desktop detectors that run upwards of 50 grand, we can envision quite a few precincts placing orders for what CDEX is dealing.

[Chase @ Jul 25th 2006 10:52PM]

I wonder how they would employ such a device. Surely they can't just fire it off all willy-nilly hoping to hit jackpot on some poor traffickers trunklid. That would violate Kyllo (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-8508.ZS.html), I would assume.

[russ @ Jul 25th 2006 11:31PM]

then again it could be used to _find_ drugs? that could help paying off the $10,000 price tag if you want one for personal use..

[akijikan @ Jul 25th 2006 11:34PM]

Everyone's going to making their deals at the car wash now

[Dave @ Jul 26th 2006 12:08AM]

Hilarious, Russ!

[mrmr @ Jul 26th 2006 12:42AM]

"emitting small amounts of UV radiation"...would giving a suspect a sunburn be considered a form of police brutality?

[TeleCustom @ Jul 26th 2006 12:48AM]

if it detects marajuana, they might have to lockdown high schools and colleges.

[PreZ @ Jul 26th 2006 1:14AM]

HAHAHA this is great, nice post

[Bosco @ Jul 26th 2006 6:05AM]

Go to Riverside, CA.. the gun will overload and explode.

[kell-hell @ Mar 8th 2007 3:41AM]

....hmmm, Bosco- besides the good ol I.E., there's always downtown lofts in L.A.- just ask Crazy Gideon. LOL

[kenny @ Jul 26th 2006 10:31AM]

every day weird gun things look more and more like star trek things...

this looks like a playskool version of the phasers from Star Trek 2

[Victor Noir @ Jul 26th 2006 11:23AM]

I remember reading about police, in Texas if I recall correctly, using infrared technology that penetarted walls (cheap apartment, one assumes) to bust people inside their own homes. The argument was that they emitted detectable light that provided probable cause. The DA was more than happy to prosecute---you have to figure that law enforcement won't hesitate with this.

[NoboZo @ Jul 26th 2006 1:05PM]

"CDEX core technology is highly scalable," and "....is capable of wired or wireless up/down loading of data, time and date stamps of all tests.." it says.

Hmm... I wonder what that means?

Hmm... I wonder what "portentous" means?

[Gio @ Jul 26th 2006 5:46PM]

First of all theres no way that Police Depts are going to spend $10,000 on that tool. They got more better things to spend thier budgets on.

[Fram Broadwood @ Jul 26th 2006 6:59PM]

This concept is really nothing new. A company call Ahura has a device already on the market that performs the same function, but better as they use Raman spectroscopy (which give a much more diagnostic signature for a wider range of compounds): http://www.ahuracorp.com/

[google @ May 14th 2007 6:30AM]

I think this gun will soon be in stores all across the USA, after all, we are one nation under guns!

[Nishu @ Sep 5th 2007 2:59PM]

What does it do more, kill the guilty one? All in all it may be a very useful “weapon" to fight against drug addicts if some programs, like this one http://www.drugrehab.net/causes.php, are obsolete.

[01 @ Oct 3rd 2007 4:54PM]

I can't imagine how use of this (This investigative aid allows cops to detect and identify drug traces without even knowing (or suspecting) that chemical foul play was involved.) doesn't violate reasonable search and seizure...will be fun to see how long this actually stands up to and civil liberties tests.

[Jay @ Nov 7th 2007 9:46PM]

I believe that "probable cause" to search is where the legal implications and constitutional sticky points come in regarding this. Not to worry we Americans will be more than willing to give up another civil right if the government tells us that people who use drugs are terrorists. After all if you have nothing to hide, what is the problem? The problem is, one day we might discover that we all have something or another to hide and that something could be used against us by mistake or by abuse of power.

America, put down your charge cards, stop self medicating with the latest gadget and wake up It is just a matter of time before the "i-thought gun" is released and if our thoughts are not in line with the corporate-political structure..