This article is pretty interesting.
Oral administration of cocaine seems to be a pretty understudied area.
“A previous report (15) indicated that repeated oral cocaine administration produced a metabolic profile that was unlike that observed after parenteral administration; however, these data were obtained after repeated cocaine administration, and it was unclear whether the differences in metabolism were due to the chronicity of dosing, the oral route of administration, or a combination of the two. After acute parenteral administration, plasma area-under-the-curve (AUC) for BZE has been estimated to range from 1- to 7-fold that of cocaine (16), but repeated oral administration resulted in BZE AUC values ~20-fold higher than cocaine (15). Likewise, EME AUCs after parenteral cocaine administration are three-fourths that of cocaine (16) while EME AUCs after repeated oral administration were 5-fold higher than cocaine (15).”
So according to one study, oral administration of cocaine results in a different metabolic profile, meaning that dependent on what metabolites are measured for in a hair follicle test, it may not be detectable.
Simultaneously, other studies indicate that the values of metabolites after oral administration is drastically higher (up to 20 times) than with other routes of administration.
So speculating here, but if the girl accidentally ate some cocaine one time, that could possibly have resulted in the levels in the follicle test being so high.
(Though there’s a lot here we don’t know, and it doesn’t seem to be a thoroughly studied area.)
Either way it’s too soon to say anything for sure, but the theory that Nick say and gave his 9 year old lines to snort on a daily basis, looks pretty weak.
Though who the hell knows.