KEEP ILLEGAL DRUGS OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS

We do not believe that illegal drugs are a major concern in Ohio
County public schools -- but even small quantities of them used
and/or sold by a handful of students are not acceptable. The school
system's "zero tolerance" policy for drugs is wise and, we believe,
applauded by most students, parents and the public in general.

Some school officials want to provide one more deterrent for students
tempted to take illegal drugs to school. Their idea, particularly at
Wheeling Park High School, is to have law enforcement officers go
through schools periodically with drug-detecting dogs.

Though that sounds at first glance like an excellent idea, school
Superintendent Lawrence Miller is wise to insist that the
ramifications of such activity be researched before the plan is
implemented. It already has been discussed at a Board of Education
meeting, with several law enforcement officials in attendance.

An attorney told those at the meeting that court cases in other
states have dealt with similar situations -- but no case law could be
found regarding use of drug-detecting dogs in West Virginia schools.
The attorney offered advice regarding how such searches should be conducted.

It was emphasized during the meeting that students who may believe
their school lockers are safeguarded from searches are wrong. The
lockers are public -- not private -- property.

One piece of advice offered to school officials by the attorney was
that plans for use of drug-detecting dogs ought to be laid out with
some specificity for students. We don't agree with that, beyond
informing students that the dogs will be used to detect any illegal
drugs inside school buildings.

Once school officials are comfortable with plans for the searches,
they should begin. We join many others already on record in
supporting the idea. If it deters even one student from taking
illegal drugs to school -- or catches even one hallway pusher -- the
program will do a service for thousands of local students.