DOUBTS EXPRESSED ABOUT DRUG-SNIFFING DOG

Having a drug-sniffing dog search local schools may be an ineffective
approach to controlling drug use, according to local parents. School
District 79 is presently developing a procedure and protocol formula
to have Gator - the RCMP North Cowichan/Duncan detachment's drug dog
- - come into local middle and high schools and search for illegal
substances next year.

Board chair Wilma Rowbottom said superintendent Brian Hoole will draw
up a protocol to be completed and submitted to the board for approval
by this fall.

But some concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of locker
searches on the drug presence in the schools.

Shelley Bailey, president of the Cowichan Valley District Parents
Advisory Council, wants to see parents involved in developing the
protocol. She is concerned about the imperfect nature of the
situation. "Lockers are not secure and good kids could get framed for
things," said Bailey.

She agrees drugs don't belong in schools, but wants to know what
would happen if a child tries one joint.

"We don't want one stupid mistake to follow them. We need to make
sure there is a proper investigation," she said.

Const. Al Hamilton, the dog handler for the North Cowichan/Duncan
canine division, agrees with Bailey's concerns over the imperfect
nature of the random drug searches.

He said he knows drugs are present in schools, as they have always
been, but he is uncertain of how effective locker searches will be on
stopping drug trafficking and usage.

He said students won't necessarily keep their drugs in lockers
because if they are trying to conduct a deal, it is easier to sell
away from the locker to avoid creating a scene in the busy hallway.

Drugs also leave a scent residue the dog can smell weeks later.

While doing a locker search he and Gator may come across a locker
where a marijuana joint had been sitting a week earlier. But when the
dog smells the drug and tells Const. Hamilton where to search, he'll
discover nothing, much to the chagrin of the student involved.

To have a dog search out banks and banks of lockers will be both a
time consuming and exhausting experience.

"I'm not burning him out for something that is probably not there,"
said Const. Hamilton. "The dogs work brutally hard for you. (But drug
sniffing) is major work for the dog. It takes a high-energy dog." "Is
this the most appropriate thing to be doing?" asked Bailey.
"Principals already have the right to go into students' lockers at
anytime. The drug dog could just be overkill or a way of keeping the
dog working."