;-) The definitive argument for e$: tainted cash

[rah@shipwright.com (Robert Hettinga)]

Fun Facts to Know and Tell About *Your* Legal Tender...

>   >From the August 1993 American Bar Association Journal
>>
>>   >
>>   >"The mere presence of trace amounts of cocaine on a common object ...
>>   > is insufficient to support a felony conviction of cocaine."  Lord v.
>>   > Florida, 91-2147.
>>   >
>>   >"[T]he evidence of the narcotic-trained dog's alert to [tainted] currency
>>   > is of extremely little probative weight. . . .  It cannot be doubted
>>that
>>   > contaminated currency is widespread.  The presence of trace narcotics on
>>   > currency does not yield any relevant information whatsoever about the
>>   > currency's history."  US District Court Judge Thomas Wiseman of
>>Nashville,
>>   > Jones v. DEA, No. 3:91-0520 (April 21, 1993).
>>   >
>>   >"The probability that every single person in the United States is
>>   > carrying drug-tainted money is almost certain."  -- Dr. James Woodford,
>>   > forensic chemist in Atlanta.  Woodford cites a 1989 experiment by Miami
>>   > toxicologist Dr. William Hearn, who gathered 135 dollar bills from banks
>>   > in twelve cities.  131 had traces of cocaine.
>>   >
>>   >It also cites a 1985 study by the Miami Herald, which asked eleven
>>prominent
>>   >local citizens to supply a $20 bill for testing, including the Catholic
>>   >archbishop, George Bush's son Jeb, and Janet Reno.  Ten out of the eleven
>>   >bills had traces of cocaine.
>>   >
>>   >Finally, there's a reference to an until-now secret 1987 DEA study
>>showing
>>   >that 1/3 of the money at the Federal Reserve Building in Chicago was
>>   >tainted with cocaine.  It's thought that cocaine is transferred from some
>>   >bills to agencies' high-speed sorting equipment [...]



Cheers,
Bob Hettinga



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