History Main / FingertipDrugAnalysis

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' a dead immortal's son mentions that he tried this with a bag of white powder he found in his dad's stuff (along with [[MultipleIdentityIDs several blank passports]], valuable paintings, and Krugerrands), and that it made his tongue feel numb.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* Professor Watanabe does this in ''WesternAnimation/IsleOfDogs'' when he suspects someone of poisoning his sushi. [[spoiler:He then promptly drops dead as [[NoKillLikeOverkill even that small taste contained more than 10 times the poison needed to stop the heart of a whale.]]]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* The artificial sweetener sucralose (Splenda) is made by chlorinating regular sucrose, thus replacing three of the hydroxyl groups with chlorine. This discovery was made possible because someone misheard an instruction from their superior; they thought their boss told them to ''taste'' sucrose treated with chlorine, when in actuality they were merely told to ''test'' it (while researching sugar-substitute possibilities during the diet craze of TheEighties).

** Spoofed in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/FeetOfClay'', where Constable Flint (a troll serving in the Ankh-Morpork City Watch) tastes a mysterious white powder he suspects to be Slab, a troll hallucinogen, and says, "Yes, this is definitely Slab wurble wurble sclup," and [[MushroomSamba has to spend three days tied to his bed until the spiders go away]].

* A variation appeared in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingSpiez''. The kids are investigating the cocooning of various scientists/important people and while on-site, Marc takes the liberty of performing this trope on the yellow substance used on the victim. His siblings are [[{{Squick}} understandably disgusted]] and somewhat baffled, but Marc is quick to inform them it's just honey. Now, why the SmartGuy of the team in both this and the above example took the liberty of doing this is [[FridgeLogic unclear]].

** The Tenth Doctor developed a bit of a habit of um... [[OralFixation licking things]]. He [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion first does it]] with blood, even determining the blood group from the taste alone. This habit comes back to bite him [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead when]] he tastes some sand, only to discover that the "sand" actually consists of pulverized corpses. [[IAteWhat Yeugh]].

This is TruthInTelevision to the extent that certain drugs (opium, for example) have a distinctive taste or odor. Cocaine can similarly be identified not by taste, but by the way it instantly numbs where it touches.[[note]]The non-psychoactive, and more easily obtained, drug lidocaine, does the exact same thing, so it's used to cut or sometimes replace cocaine.[[/note]] However, any modern police lab is loaded with all kinds of test equipment for just this kind of thing. Without it, it's just a cop's word on the stand. (And how reliable would that word be if they just deliberately ingested something mind-altering?) 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). 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.

* The buddy-cop movie ''Film/TangoAndCash'' opens with [[Creator/SylvesterStallone Ray Tango]] arresting two punks, who have driven an oil truck well outside his jurisdiction. The highway patrol arrives on the scene and chides him for his recklessness, and a search of the truck reveals nothing but oil. They ask if he thinks [[ShoutOut he's Rambo]], to which Tango calmly replies, [[SelfDeprecation "Rambo... is a pussy"]] before shooting the oil tanker, revealing a steady stream of white powder. Tango cups his hands under the stream for a few seconds, then licks the resulting pile of powder in his hands.

The mysterious white powder (almost) never, ever, ever turns out to be a deadly poison or corrosive chemical that kills or maims our hero outright, despite the fact that he's found something, doesn't know what it is, and is stupid enough to put it directly in his mouth. Even if it isn't poison, the amount of powder the hero tastes could very easily be far more than his system could handle.

* Every time powder-form drugs turn up in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', Conan verifies its identity by tasting it. (And he really shouldn't be that cavalier about putting strange substances in his mouth, given how many times he's seen victims die to FingerLickingPoison.)

-->'''Mechanic:''' "Your ex-husband strikes again!"

-->'''Cletus:''' Crystal meth? Then what the heck did I sell to them Colombian drug lords?!
-->''(a large explosion occurs in the background)''
-->'''Cletus:''' Brandine, we're feudin' with the Escobars again!

-->'''Wiggum:''' My God, it's nothing but carrots and peyote!

* In Chile, a security guard at a chemical plant wanted to check if the white powder in a plastic cup was sugar or salt, but it turned out to be Caustic Soda. He suffered severe burns but managed to survive, although for several months he could not eat anything solid. This was a serious case of negligence on the part of the company, since caustic soda should never be placed in a plastic cup and less without being properly labeled.

* Parodied in [[http://www.thinkin-lincoln.com/index.php?strip_id=585 a strip]] of ''Webcomic/ThinkinLincoln''.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2012-10-04 Seymour tests an arrow head while asking if it's poison.]] (From his point of view, that it's Cupid's is probably worse.)
* ''Webcomic/BiterComics'': A senior detective shows his rookie partner how it's done -- [[http://www.bitercomics.com/comic/gut-instinct/ by tasting everything.]]

* In ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', Onizuka needs more than a million yen to pay for a vacation trip and his buddy cop Saejima gives him bags of white powder, supposedly cocaine, that are apparently worth millions. Kikuchi immediately pokes his finger in the bags and tastes the powder, and says that it is just ordinary flour. Onizuka is angry at being cheated, but Saejima replies that "I never said it was cocaine! It is good flour! You could sell it to a bakery!"

* Occurs in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', when Brian gets a job working as a police dog. He gains a cocaine addiction as a result, [[RealityEnsues which inadvertently shows why]] Fingertip Drug Analysis [[AccidentalAesop is a bad idea.]]

* Parodied on a ''Webcomic/VGCats'' [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212 comic strip]] about ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney''. His lovely female assistant finds residue from "some mysterious [white] liquid" all over his computer and tastes it. She exclaims, "Salty...must be blood!"

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 [[BeatBag "Powdered sugar!"]]

* Subverted in the movie ''Showtime'', which shows an undercover detective verifying a drug buy with a small chemical apparatus, and later, when William Shatner as Himself demonstrates the Fingertip Method, he is met with the question "And what if it was cyanide?"

* ''Film/TangoAndCash'': Tango checks a substance in the beginning to confirm that it's cocaine by tasting it.

* A variation on the trope occurred on ''Series/BarneyMiller'' when Barney suspects some brownies baked by Wojo's girlfriend have hashish in them. He asks Harris to test the brownies, which Harris does... by eating one, rather than sending it to the lab as Barney had expected.

* Exaggerated in the ''Website/CollegeHumor'' sketch [[https://youtu.be/y_HcHEZXqY8 Katie Gets Busted]], where the police officer that busts Katie for cocaine possession does this to confirm the evidence. Then he asks for a second opinion, who asks for a second opinion, who uses the cocaine as seasoning on sweets and meats, then a whole squad of policemen are just engaging in cocaine induced debauchery.

* Exaggerated in the ''Website/CollegeHumor'' sketch [[https://youtu.be/y_HcHEZXqY8 Katie Gets Busted]], where the police officee that busts Katie for cocaine possession does this to confirm the evidence. Then he asks for a second opinion, who asks for a second opinion, then a whole squad of policemen are just engaging in cocaine induced debauchery.