Lights and illicit substances?

Several years ago I remember seeing aflashlight capable of detecting alcohol vapors in.vehicle.What ever happened to that light?

How did that work? Will the same technology detect vapors or crystals from illicit narcotics? I know that U. V. can detect living organisms is there light frequencies that can alert to other substances?

KC

Yea, I remember seeing that thing in person...
The wife and I were on our way home after eating at Outback with another couple. The NYS Troupers had the road blocked off around the bend for "random" sobriety checks. I did see a few people on the side, walking the line. Anyway, when my car finally got up to the check point, the trouper had what appeared to be a 3D or 4D maglight in hand. As he was checking my license I noticed he made a deliberate effort to get the butt end of the light just inside the window. I remember seeing some colored LED's on it that lit up green (good). He made some short small talk, then we were on our way. Next day I saw something on the local news about a record number of DWI arrests that night and some comments were made about this miraculous new flashlight breath-a-lizer.
This was several years ago tho...

That is what I was curious about. I was under the impression that it illuminated the vapors. But if the trooper made an effort to get the light into the car it sounds like the light" smelled" the alcohol instead of illuminating the vapors.

When the news talked about it did they discuss how it worked? Or did thy talk about court challenges about the constitutional challenges it would raise?

Thanks!

Hay Chengiz,

Welcome aboard! Cool concept, and I took your post to lean more on the side of the function that mAMP, Marquis Reagent and Duquenois tests fill rather than just alcohol (since where I work we got HGN training available to everybody now, don't need no instruments other than a pen -- or even a finger in a pinch).

UV does identify certain things, so why not illicit (ice, ecstasy, weed) vapors? We just gotta get a chemist on board here.

Hope to meet up with you sometime (we could compare whip lashing scars). Don't ask me -- ask Her, heh heh...

Reference whipping scars she is pretty liberal about giving those out .It is the psychological scarring that is harsh. Stay on her good side and say the pool is awesome or it gets worse.

Now for the narcotics, I think that with all the chemicals used in the manufacturing process a light should be able to illuminate them somehow whether it uses a special filter or something.

I think McGizmo may know something in this regard.

I thought I heard you may be in our area soon. Hopefully we will meet then.

That flashlight was just a pretty sensitive breathalyzer with a flashlight at the other end. It just picked up the alcohol vapors in your breath, which is why they stuck the end in your face.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gifI was duped.........Unicorn is absolutely right. The flashlight has an alco-sensor on it. And all this time I thought it was a miracle of the light gods. I found an advertisement for it in a trade magazine. Unless a person has been drinking themselves, the old tried and true nasal system does the same thing for no cost and you get to use your own personal choice flashlight. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

Hey Chenquiz,

How's it? Nice pool! Please pass my compliments on! I don't know anything about various chemicals and how they may be seen or found with narrow spectrum light sources. Certainly a good strong UV light shows traces not visible in normal conditions. Seems to me that it would be useful to either have a set of filters and a broad spectrum light or some near UV or UV sources. I have been approached by some professors and research types interested in UV but mostly they wanted a light source that would fluoresce (sp?) dyes they had placed in their experiments. I'm not up on the forensics applications.

Perhaps an open flame light source might reveal rather high levels of alchohol?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

- Don