'Shared banknote' health warning to cocaine users

This study explains why there hasn't been a huge explosion in Hepatitis C cases:

Conclusions: Infectivity studies in a chimpanzee suggest that HCV may survive on environmental surfaces at room temperature at least 16 hours but not longer than 4 days.

An HCV infected individual who uses a bank note to snort a drug would have to then share the bank note with another individual within a 16 hour time frame. So although traces of cocaine (and other drugs) are present on almost all bank notes in the EU and in the USA, bills in general circulation pose much less of a risk to individual health than the original article wants you to believe.

That isn't to say that other types of infections can't be picked up by using dirty bank notes -- a good friend of mine almost died from a bacterial sinus infection that migrated into her brain, because she was a heavy cocaine user, used dirty bills, and had structural damage to her sinuses from her drug use.
 
B240C said:
damn, like coke much?
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Maybe it was Snopes, or perhaps another similar site that explained such high amounts of cash having residue of cocaine on them. When money tained with coke traces comes in contact with other bills, such as in store cash registers, wallets, or ATMs, some of the residue rub off. So such high numbers do not necessarily indicate that all of those bank-notes were used to sniff the while lady.
 
but in theory, if u have a tiny cut on your hand, and you touch a bill, you have the same risk of catching HEP C dont you? Although yes, it is stupid to use currency for snorting, god knows where each and every dollar has been.. i guess using currency to insufflate is so deep-rooted in the drug culture, that most people ive ever seen snorting coke, for example, in any country, have used money. its partially an ego thing (people using $100 bills to snort coke, thinking it makes them look cool), but yeah its a bad habit.
 
I have had hep B in the past, and I'm pretty sure I caught it in this manner.

Thankfully my body kicked it to the curb and I'm only left with the antibodies, but it could have turned nasty.

I was snorting meth btw, not coke.
 
^^I would think that only applies to the banknote mode of transmission or off other inanimate surfaces (good thing too, or we would definitely be in trouble).

I think the point that is being confused by some is the potential escalation of the disease and the banknote. I don't think epidemiologically that transmission from inanimate objects was ever considered a significant risk factor. It is blood to blood transmission and the potentially thousands of undiagnosed cases unknowingly passing it on which poses the risk of 'epidemic' proportions.

Read...many,many baby boomers did a lot of drugs in a much more naive environment than today.
 
has nothing to do with hep C specifically or anything, but you have to realize that money is just plain filthy in all regards. Sticking a random twig from your backyard up your nose is far cleaner than a dollar bill. I never really share insufflation utencils, and always use a rolled up reciept or piece of paper of some sort that is clean (relative to paper money). Its more or less lack of a desire to share colds and things of that nature, i dont really think theres THAT much hepetitis or other deadly viruses living in money - pleanty of other nasty germs tho.
 
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