Pubs have started trialling an 'anti-cocaine spray' to try and stop punters taking the Class A drug on their premises.
The product – named BLOKit – is designed to coat a surface (such as toilet cisterns, toilet seats, and sink areas) with an invisible film that makes racking up lines very tricky.
It's claimed the powder will stick to the sprayed surface which, in turn, should make it hard to snort.
Drug takers who do manage to snort the coke, will end up with a 'disgusting' taste that lasts for hours.
Currently, the spray is being trialled in 24 pubs around Darlington, north east England.
However, some experts have questioned whether it's a waste of time – saying that people can snort coke straight off keys, the corner of their bank card or their phone as the surface.
Guy Jones, a senior scientist at drug testing organisation The Loop, asked: "Does anyone really snort off a cistern when they could just use a smartphone?"
He went on to tell Vice: "Keys are so widely known as a cocaine dosing tool that they have become a slang unit of measure.
"Short of following people into the cubicle, I don't see what pub landlords can be expected to do about people consuming such a popular drug."
Adam Waugh – who works for Psycare UK, a drug harm reduction charity – also probed the effectiveness of the spray.
He said: "This is the latest in a long line of gimmicks which have been suggested by police could reduce cocaine use in pubs and bars.
"The problem is none of these initiatives reduce harmful drug use, at best they displace it. In reality they risk distracting from policies that can save lives."
According to LadBible, Darlington Borough Council paid Millwood Manufacturing (the company which specialises in making the spray) £650 for 60 bottles of the anti-drug deterrent spray.
West Mercia Police Crime Commissioner's official Twitter page asked its 4,388social media users whether the trials will help deterrent drug users.
The poll results found that 29.4% of people think it will have an impact while a majority of 70.6% said they didn't think it would make a difference.
One user commented: "You have to stop the demand rather than the supply. As long as there's a demand, they'll find a way to manufacture it. No demand? Then there's no reason to make it."
While another added: "There is literally no way this will help. There has never been someone who has and wants coke and is like 'damn its mildly inconvenient to do drugs'."
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