DRUG-TRACE BILLS NO SURPRISE

Scanners 'Very Sensitive,' Says Corrections Official

Results of an experiment that shocked two Toronto teens - who found traces
of street drugs on randomly chosen five-dollar bills - come as no surprise
to the Correctional Service of Canada.

"My first institutional visit, I was told that the (prison drug-detection)
equipment is so sensitive you could test positive from having touched
money," said CSC spokesman Michele Pilon-Santilli yesterday.

Two Grade 7 students who recently screened 30 bills as part of a science
experiment to find out how much dirt accumulated on money discovered that
each bill tested positive for traces of cocaine.

The bills were culled from various banks in Toronto, Montreal and
Vancouver, then stored in separate envelopes to prevent
cross-contamination. The students also found traces of ecstasy, speed,
heroin and methamphetamines.

That doesn't mean prisons turn away visitors who've unwittingly brushed up
against a narcotic, said Pilon-Santilli.

Corrections staff can adjust detection levels on hand-held ion scanners
used in federal prisons to find traces of drugs, she said.

"Ion scanners are very, very sensitive, but we set the level of detection
so we're looking for direct contact with drugs, not indirect. Money would
be considered indirect."