HIGH-TECH DRUG DETECTOR COULD BE ON ITS WAY TO SCHOOLS

Smokin' in the boys room, as the old song went, used to be relegated to
cigarettes.

Now, drugs much stronger than nicotine can be detected in the bathroom and
throughout a school building with the help of some state-of-the-art technology.

Last Wednesday morning, Irving, Texas-based Trace Detection Services gave
administrators at Grant High School a free demonstration of its high-tech
contraband-detecting machine, called the Itemiser.

The Itemiser is a narcotics and explosives detection and identification
system that is activated when someone swipes any surface with a fibrous,
disc-shaped "trap" and then feeds it into the Itemiser machine for analysis.

The Itemiser can then deter-mine what drug, if any, is detected. This
includes heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, LSD, PCP and many others,
including the increasingly popular OxyContin.

Lamar Briggs, a school re-source officer through the Grant Parish Sheriff's
Office, said he had heard about Trace Detection and that it was very
effective. Briggs extended an invitation to the company to come to Grant High.

Trace Detection CEO Andy Anderson, of Alexandria, said the cost of a
typical session is about $300 an hour, although that price is negotiable
depending on the size of the school and other factors.

Anderson said Grant High is the first school in Louisiana to witness this
cutting-edge technology, which is already in use by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, Central Intelligence Agency and
Federal Aviation Administration.

Trace Detection, Anderson said, is not in competition with drug- sniffing
dogs. Rather, it offers a very specific service.

"Dogs are great, but dogs can't tell you specifically if the drug is
methamphetamines," Anderson said.

Itemiser technician Andy Homan, of Clinton, Miss., roamed the halls of
Grant High, looking for areas where drug use might occur.

Using the fibrous trap, Homan swiped everything from library bookshelves to
lockers to bathroom sinks. The traps were later placed in an envelope to be
analyzed by the Itemiser.

"This school is pretty open," Homan said. "Not too many crooks and crannies
to hide in."

About 25 traps went through an Itemiser analysis. Two traps came back
positive for cocaine. One was from a sink and mirror in a downstairs
bathroom. The other was from a bent air vent in a second-floor boys bathroom.

"That was a pretty good hit," Anderson said. "Usually cocaine doesn't stay
in one spot for very long."

Superintendent Bob McLamore said he was impressed with the effectiveness of
the Itemiser.

"I'm very pleased with what I've seen here," McLamore said. "This is a good
step into the future in determining whether there are drugs in school. I'm
pleased with this demonstration."

Grant High Principal Norman Garlington was also impressed.

"I'm just amazed by what this technology can do," Garlington said. "It's an
advantage to have something like this in the school."

McLamore said a decision could be made soon about implementing Trace
Detection's services.

"We'll be talking to finances and then make a decision," McLamore said.
"The ultimate goal here is to protect all of our students."