It's nothing to sniff at. US currency is drug money, literally.
We now have reports has found that 95% of dollar bills in Washington DC bear traces of cocaine. Significantly, that's up 20% over the last two years. In other words, more people are using dollar bills to snort the stuff. Researchers conducting the study believe the increase might reflect all the stress people have been under with the global financial crisis. Besides Washington DC, the highest cocaine traces were collected on dollar bills in Boston, Detroit and Baltimore. The least amount of C dust was in Salt Lake City, home of the Mormons. Surprise surprise.
Daily Finance commentator Bruce Watson reckons it's a good thing because it means money is circulating. Watson writes: "If cash is getting contaminated, then it is moving. If it's moving, then people are exchanging it. And if people are exchanging it, then perhaps the economy is on its way to recovery. How's that for a silver lining?"
Well maybe. Let's just see if that's reflected in the unemployment, bankruptcy, foreclosure and mortgage delinquency figures.
And before you rush off to sniff a bill, the Big Bear Observation Post blog makes the point that there isn't enough of the stuff on the note to give you a high. They're just traces.
The good news is that money is circulating, the bad news is that these money aren’t clean. A big part of these money come from money laundering operations and drug trafficking.