Pubdate: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) Copyright: 1999 The Topeka Capital-Journal Contact: http://cjonline.com/ Author: Associated Press PRISON GETS HIGH-TECH DRUG-TESTING EQUIPMENT HUTCHINSON -- The warden will know if you have taken drugs before you try to walk into the prison here. He has tried out the new high-tech drug testing equipment himself. He came up clean, but a woman who tried to visit an inmate at the Hutchinson Correctional Center after taking cocaine couldn't get past the device. The prison recently bought two ion spectrometers for $29,875 each along with a $115,000, four-ton AS&E BodySearch machine -- paid for with a $500,000 grant from the federal government and the National Institute of Corrections, said Warden Robert Hannigan, who was declared drug-free after he was the first to be tested by the BodySearch machine. The spectrometers can check for 32 different substances, including cocaine, heroin and marijuana. If a visitor tests positive on the spectrometer, that is grounds for a test by the BodySearch machine, which uses low-level X-rays to take photographs through a person's clothes. The visitor has a choice of that or a body search. The woman who tested positive for cocaine opted to leave and come back another day. Hannigan said the equipment, along with sophisticated urinalysis testing and two new drug detection dogs, will improve the prison's ability to reach its goal of zero tolerance for drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake