Would Determine Usage Within Prior 90 Minutes : Firm Plans Kits to Detect Pot Smokers

In what could prove to be a boon for law enforcement agencies, as well as sports teams and corporations combating drug use by employees, Environmental Diagnostics Inc. of Irvine said Tuesday that it plans to develop kits which will instantly determine if someone has used marijuana within the prior hour and a half.

Development of the kits is projected to cost $120,000 and will be accomplished through a joint venture with a Tallahassee, Fla., company, said Arden A. Kelton, Environmental Diagnostics’ president. Kelton said the potential market for the devices is more than $60 million annually.

Consisting of a small card and twin chemical solutions, the kit will analyze a saliva sample and determine if marijuana is present within a matter of minutes, unlike blood and urine tests, which can take several days to process.

Quick Action

“The field test allows one to take remedial action on the spot,” Kelton said. “In the business environment, for example, if you suspect that someone is intoxicated, you can put him on another job where he poses no danger to public safety.”

Although Kelton said the company is not promoting the device “until we have it in hand,” the company has been in contact with several police agencies, including the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.

And, with the price of individual kits expected to range from a low of $1.50 to about $10 apiece in smaller quantities, Kelton has no doubts about the kit’s popularity. “I wish I had it today,” he said with a chuckle. “I think the thing is really going to sell.”

Other Uses

In fact, Kelton said, if the marijuana detection kit goes over well, the device could be adapted to a variety of drugs, including cocaine.

“It’s something that we as a department would be glad to have once it was proven in court and was proven to be reliable,” said Officer Fabian Lizarraga of the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to former Interior Secretary James G. Watt, Environmental Diagnostic’s chairman, drug use costs businesses an estimated $25 billion annually in lost productivity and insurance costs.

One industry that has had its share of drug problems has been major-league baseball. A device for detecting marijuana would require the consent of both managers and the players’ union before it could be used. John Sevano, a spokesman for the California Angels, said it “should not be taken lightly.”

“Baseball’s problem isn’t marijuana but substances that go beyond that,” Sevano said. “If it proved to be successful and they went on to develop products that could detect cocaine, than we’d have to evaluate the product itself.”