World Scene: Spain

Cocaine in the air

Sniff the air in Barcelona or Madrid, scientists say, and you'll inhale not only carbon dioxide but possibly cocaine too.

A new study reports the air in these two cities is also laced with drugs - notably cocaine.

The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, a government institute, said on its website yesterday it also found traces of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid, a relative of LSD, wafting through the cities.

The scientific group stressed that "in no case should these levels be considered representative of the air in the two cities". They said their testing sites were in areas where drug use is likely high.

They said there's no reason for alarm. "Not even if we lived for a thousand years would we consume the equivalent of a dose of cocaine by breathing this air," scientist Miren Lopez de Alda said.

(China Daily 05/15/2009 page10)