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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Wales: Minister Tests Positive for Cannabis Laura May PA News Wednesday 15 Jun 2005 A minister tested positive for cannabis today at a voluntary session designed to show the capability of a high-tech drugs testing machine. Edwina Hart, Social Justice Minister at the National Assembly for Wales, had not been using drugs, but the result showed that her hands had been cross contaminated with traces of the substance, from door handles, money or other public areas. She said: 'You could pick it up from any where couldn't you?' Conservative Assembly Member William Graham, who had arranged for police to demonstrate the drug testing machine at the Assembly, also tested positive for cannabis. He said: 'I can't think where I could have got it from.' Assembly members lined up to have swabs of their hands tested by the Ion Track narcotics machine, and Jonathan Morgan and Owen Jon Thomas both came up clean on the machine. Nick Bourne, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, also got a clear result. He later told AMs: 'May I pay tribute to the Ion Track system, despite the fact that both the Minister and William Graham tested positive on it - I was relieved that I didn't - but it is an excellent system nevertheless.' Ms Hart responded: 'It can come out of cash, out of a cashpoint, a beer mat, or anything else. It is a very sophisticated system that can pick up anything if you have been in contact with someone's jacket or anything.' The Ion Track machine can detect traces of drugs or explosives several days after a person has come into contact with them, even if they have washed their hands. A swab paper is wiped over a person=92s hands and then placed into the machine which then analyses it for drugs including cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and cannabis. The resulting reading indicates how many drugs are present in the sample and at what levels. It is so sensitive it can detect the equivalent in drugs of a grain of salt in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It has been used by Gwent Police to test people queuing for a night club, and to detect traces of drugs in a house where the actual substances have already been removed. Divisional Crime Prevention Officer PC Simon James said that while the results could not be used as evidence, they can indicate to officers that a person should be searched or questioned. Mr Graham said: 'Anything that deters people from taking drugs is a good thing. If people know this thing exists then they will know that they might get caught.
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