BILLS TINGED WITH COCAINE

School Experiment Finds High-Fivers

TORONTO -- Two Toronto teens have discovered a whole new meaning to the
term "drug money" after finding traces of street drugs on 30 randomly
selected five-dollar bills.

Each bill tested positive for traces of cocaine, said Logan Pritchard, 13,
of Upper Canada College private school, after screening the cash as part of
a science experiment with classmate Bradley Rose. The Grade 7 pupils wanted
to see just how much dirt accumulated on currency.

"When I was younger, my parents used to say 'Don't put that money in your
mouth,'" Pritchard said.

"After this project, I realized how dirty it was."

Taken From Various Banks

The fivers were culled from various banks in Toronto, Montreal and
Vancouver, then stored in separate envelopes to prevent cross-contamination.

"It's a startling finding. I was really surprised," said Esther Giesbrecht,
who supervised the money testing at the toxicology lab at the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health.

Each bill was tested by chromatography, a standard drug screening procedure
used on urine and other samples. A newly minted bill and a control paper
were also tested and showed no traces of drugs.

But the street bills were another story. Apart from cocaine, the budding
scientists also found traces of ecstasy, speed, heroin and methamphetamines.

"That's pretty wild," said Denis Abbott, assistant director of currency
education for the Bank of Canada.

"We'd love to see the results. We'd love to see what kind of testing they
did. The bank hasn't done any testing of that nature."

The project garnered a gold medal at Upper Canada College's March science
fair before taking bronze at the University of Toronto regional science
competition last week.

"The judges really liked it and they kept coming back to talk to us," said
Pritchard, who hopes to follow in his father's footsteps and become a
plastic surgeon when he finishes his schooling.