Cocaine Shark: How Drug Habits Can Impact Aquatic Ecosystems

Key points

Cocaine is an environmental pollutant.

Wastewater testing can track drug use patterns.

Telling people that quitting a drug could help the environment could be a beneficial cessation tactic.

Cocaine shark. I’m not talking about a budget horror movie but a peek into how our global drug habits have long-lasting consequences.

Last year, a group of scientists took to the waters off the coast of Rio de Janeiro to capture Brazilian sharpnose sharks. The goal? To study what our drug use is doing to the environment and how to best convince people to consider the ecological penalties of addiction .

Cocaine has been experiencing a surge in popularity, both in the United States and around the world. Emergency room visits, poison control center calls, and overdoses have all been ri