rdfs:comment
| - The detectives have raided a house and found some suspicious white powder or liquid. One of them puts his or her finger in it, then either sniffs it or tastes it. They pronounce it's heroin or cocaine or whatever. Or if it's phony drugs, they announce "Powdered sugar!" Also done by drug-dealing baddies. Seen in almost every 1970s Cop Show. The mysterious white powder (almost) never, ever, ever turns out to be a deadly poison that kills our hero outright, despite the fact that he's found something, doesn't know what it is, and is stupid enough to put it in his mouth.
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abstract
| - The detectives have raided a house and found some suspicious white powder or liquid. One of them puts his or her finger in it, then either sniffs it or tastes it. They pronounce it's heroin or cocaine or whatever. Or if it's phony drugs, they announce "Powdered sugar!" Also done by drug-dealing baddies. Seen in almost every 1970s Cop Show. The mysterious white powder (almost) never, ever, ever turns out to be a deadly poison that kills our hero outright, despite the fact that he's found something, doesn't know what it is, and is stupid enough to put it in his mouth. Despite the obvious hazards (not to mention the fact that a police officer could get in serious trouble if they were tested and found to have a drug in their system), this was Truth in Television to the extent that certain drugs (opium, for example) have a distinctive taste or odor. Cocaine can be identified not by taste, but by the way it instantly numbs where it touches. However, any modern police officer is loaded with all kinds of test equipment for just this - without it, it's just a cop's word on the stand. But if a chemical reaction proves it's really drugs, it's a lot harder for a lawyer to disprove, and a lot safer for the cop (see the Real Life entries) as well. If the substance is blood, you're performing The Ketchup Test. For any case of testing mysterious substances by taste or smell see Sniff Sniff Nom. Examples of Fingertip Drug Analysis include:
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