Experts had foraged Germany's rivers for a substance produced by the human body during cocaine consumption, and the results were bountiful.
No where in the article does it tell us what the "substance" that the body produces is and why it is a marker for coke use.
"benzoylecgonine, norcocaine, and cocaethylene" are too hard for journalists to remember.
Science makes their little heads hurt, which is why they majored in bullshit.
From the article:
"They did not take the samples directly at the purification plants, where the by-product benzoylecgonine is broken down by about 80 percent"
This is a very poorly worded article. Benzoylecgonine is mentioned in such a way that one would wonder if it was something that was a part of the water treatment process.