TRACES OF COCAINE FOUND ON 85 PERCENT OF CANADIAN BANK NOTES

A team of U.S. scientists has conducted tests showing that 85 per cent
of Canadian currency carries traces of cocaine -- a finding that puts
this country's money on a virtual par with the U.S. for contamination
by the powerful, powdery drug.

Researchers headed by University of Massachusetts chemist Yuegang Zuo,
presenting their findings to the American Chemical Society convention
in Washington, D.C., said the "alarming" results -- higher than those
in a previous study conducted only for U.S. banknotes -- may reflect
growing use of the narcotic in North America during an era of economic
stress. The latest experiments involved screening of paper currency
from the U.S. and -- for the first time -- four other countries:
Canada, Brazil, China and Japan.

Of the 27 Canadian banknotes examined, 23 tested positive for cocaine,
ranging from minute amounts to one bill containing more than 2,500
micrograms of the drug -- proof that the money was "used in a drug
transaction or uptake" by a user, Zuo said. "Although most of the U.S.
and Canadian banknotes were contaminated with cocaine," Zuo said in an
e-mail, "the amounts are usually very low -- [except for] those
directly involved in a drug deal or abuse. People should not have any
health concerns about handling paper money," Zuo said.

The researchers found cocaine contamination in 80 per cent of
Brazilian currency, 20 per cent of the banknotes from China and just
12 per cent of those from Japan.