CENTRAL BUCKS MULLS DRUG DOG POLICY

Under the policy, the district would pay an outside firm to perform random
drug searches at secondary schools using trained Labrador and golden
retrievers.

Doing and dealing drugs in school will get harder if Central Bucks board
members approve a proposed policy allowing trained dogs to search students'
lockers, backpacks and cars.

Under the policy, the district would pay an outside firm to perform random
drug searches at secondary schools using highly trained Labrador and golden
retrievers.

"They can find anything from LSD to cocaine to Ritalin," Superintendent N.
Robert Laws told school directors.. Ritalin, a prescription stimulant used
to treat attention deficit disorder, is commonly abused.

Laws said CB is considering the service, offered by a regional office of
Texas-based Interquest Detection Canines. He said it could cost about $200
per search, but he's still negotiating the price.

The new policy also would authorize bomb searches after any threats are
made to the district. As for the private drug dogs, Laws said, the district
wants "to send a message" to students to keep drugs out of the middle and
high schools.

A survey released in June said marijuana use among Central Bucks seniors
increased 25 percent in the last 12 years, but the use of other drugs -
such as cocaine, inhalants and hallucinogens - has decreased.

The Pennsbury School Board Thursday authorized the use of the canine search
program, becoming the first school district in the county to do so.