OBSERVATORY: TRACING COCAINE

You don't need to be too much of a snob about French wine to tell a
Sancerre from a Savennieres, or a St.-Estephe from a St.-Emilion. Even
small taste hints — a touch of flintiness here, some fruitiness there — can
be enough to pin down a wine's origin.

Cocaine, according to new research, gives even subtler clues as to where it
came from. This information should be of use, not to connoisseurs of the
drug, but to law enforcement agents.

Researchers from the University of Utah and the Drug Enforcement
Administration, reporting in the journal Nature, say that by analyzing the
chemical signature of a sample of cocaine, they can determine in what South
American region the drug's raw material, coca leaves, were grown.

The researchers analyzed the ratio of certain isotopes of carbon and
nitrogen in the cocaine, recognizing that these ratios differ depending
upon the conditions in which the coca was grown. The scientists also
analyzed the trace alkaloid content of the drug. By combining the data,
they were able to determine the origin of 96 percent of 200 cocaine samples.

The researchers say the technique should be useful in the fight against
cocaine trafficking. It can also help identify new cocaine- producing areas
as they develop.