Sedona AZ (June 29, 2011)-Dear Editor, I read this recent article and felt it important to share with fellow SedonaEye.com readers:

Lucas Laursen …http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/89/i25/8925scene3.html

Here are a few exerpts from the complete story:

…While high school graduates in Oslo, Norway, partied hard for two weeks last spring during the so-called Russ graduation festivities, levels of the drug ecstasy spiked about 10-fold in the city’s sewer system, according to new research. In the past few years, water quality specialists have monitored such illicit drug use through sewage sampling there and in other cities, including London and San Diego, to observe the effects of drug control policies.

…The researchers collected data at an Oslo sewage treatment plant on six drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy, and the antihistamine cetirizine, which is marketed in the U.S. as Zyrtec, along with the metabolites of five drugs. They could identify expected patterns, such as a correlation between outdoor pollen levels and cetirizine concentrations….

…Sewer sampling, in general, also improves on current methods to survey drug us…public health researchers rely on in-person interviews, which usually underestimate actual drug use. “The nice thing about the sewer approach is it’s totally anonymous…”

Read the complete story using the link that I’ve sent.

Find it in the Sedona Eye!