Most of us know all sorts of methods for preventing unwanted drugs from making their way into our drinks, but none of them are 100% foolproof. Scientists at the University of Tel Aviv have developed one more tool to help keep drinks safe from the nefarious types who might drop something or another into them. The new detection kit consists of a single straw or stirrer that would react with certain chemicals in a beverage, prompting the liquid to become cloudy or change color. So far, the device has been able to detect the presence of certain drugs with 100% accuracy and zero false positives.
The straw can currently only detect GHB and ketamine, but in the future will be able to sniff out Rohypnol (roofies) as well. And don’t worry about having to carry around a straw for every drink you plan to consume: the little plastic piece can be re-used over and over until/unless it comes into contact with one of the substances it’s meant to detect.
