Regardless of whether you've ever used illicit substances, there's a decent chance that any given bill in your wallet — or even another belonging on your person — could carry trace amounts of street drugs through no fault of your own.

It's a reality that should be pretty inconsequential to the average person, especially given the literal shit found on most money, but one story making headlines this week has a lot of people, casual party drug users or not, pretty spooked.

A 22-year old man flying from Brazil to the U.S. found himself thrown in an Ontario jail for almost an entire week on false basis after a connecting flight in Toronto, for which he had to collect all of his baggage and repeat security checks at Pearson Airport.

Unfortunately, he was pulled aside for questioning during what should have been a speedy connection process, and had his belongings searched while trying to get through U.S. customs at the Toronto hub.

The man was informed by customs personnel that items in his bag had somehow tested positive for cocaine, which was a complete shock to him, he told CTV News on Monday.

The identification kits used by law enforcement are notoriously unreliable. There was a recent instance in the U.S. where Krispy Kreme doughnut glaze triggered a false positive for crystal meth. It's clear we need not only law enforcement reform but illicit substance reform as…

— Alex Murphy (@AlexMurphyPTBO) June 20, 2023

The very trace amounts of cocaine found during a repeat swab of his shampoo bottles landed the man in Maplehurst Correctional Complex, a medium/maximum-security centre with a reputation in Milton, a bit shy of an hour drive away.

The incident, which took place back in April, had the young man quite shook up given that he was just trying to get home to Boston after a vacation — and given that the Narcotics Identification Kit used by the Canada Border Services Agency at the time is very sensitive to trace amounts of residue and is considered only a presumptive analysis.

The test, performed twice due to a quickly-fading result the first time, are usually performed between two and six times before a more thorough analysis for use in court.

US Customs started it and handed over to Canada. Start first with their incompetence.

— Bernadette Armstrong (@Bernade44314252) June 20, 2023

Given how anyone could have ended up in the same scenario, people in the city are feeling very apprehensive about future travel plans and are also livid with the authorities involved, especially after reading the man's chilling account of how brutal his days in the detention centre were.

In a popular Reddit thread about the story, people are wondering how the man was apprehended like he was for potential micrograms of a drug found with a test known to be unreliable.

"This is now making me terrified of travel," a commenter who had also gotten a false positive cocaine swab at the airport, but was released after a subsequent search, said.

"Why are people being jailed for apparent trace amounts of cocaine? I guess I should be depositing any paper cash before I cross borders," another added.

Wow....that's insane. What a horrible experience. Definitely sue!! That is totally ridiculous and shouldn't happen to anyone. I can't fathom 24hrs...nevermind a week in jail....and innocent! He must have been terrified.

— Yvonne (@lazysmurfette) June 19, 2023

With cocaine contaminants present on cash more often than not, it's not such a bad suggestion.