US HOSTS CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY USED IN DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Next year at this time, the U.S.
Customs Service may be able to use a new scanning machine that uses
neutrons to help agents identity cocaine and other drugs inside
trucks and other cargo holds.

This scanning device, a new, improved version of the large X-ray
machines customs agents use now, will be among new technologies
presented at a government-sponsored conference on anti-drug tools in
San Diego this week.

Al Brandenstein, chief scientist of the White House Drug Policy
Office, said he expected the three-day conference to be "very, very
successful." The neutron scanner should be ready for use within one
year, he said.

The plethora of new technologies developed by or for the government
to help fight drug addiction and trafficking should defuse "the myth
that nothing works in the so-called war against drugs," Brandenstein
said.

Over 400 scientists, law enforcement representatives and companies
designing and developing such technology are due to attend the
conference, said Drug Office spokesman Bob Weiner.

On display will be brain scanners that show the impact of using
drugs, chemicals that make methamphetamine inert, ground and air
telephone intercepts, and miniature cameras, as well as so-called
mini-busters used by customs agents and police officers to find drugs
being smuggled inside tires and other closed spaces.

Some six years ago, one such device --which works by showing changes
in the density inside a vehicle - helped the U.S. Customers Service
seize $29 million worth of black tar heroin, which was concealed
inside a set of truck tires.

Now, more than 2,500 state and local police departments use the
devices during traffic stops and other investigations, Brandenstein
told Reuters.

Federal agencies are "aggressively hunting for powerful, fresh
concepts in both law enforcement and medicine that we can fund in
hopes of making strong new strides against addiction and the crime
associated with drug trafficking," Brandenstein said in a statement.