COURT RULING ON DRUGS AFFECTS SCHOOL SAFETY

The recent Supreme Court ruling that tightened the leash on police
drug dog searches brought back memories for former St. Patrick's High
School students such as myself, who were there that day in November
2002.

I remember sitting in a classroom and hearing over the PA system that
we were to stay put while a drug-sniffing police dog searched the
halls for nearly two hours.

The search was random, conducted with neither a cause nor a warrant.
And while the event caught many students off guard, I don't think any
of us realized just how far this thing would go certainly not to the
highest court in the land and national headlines six years later.

I have to say, however, that at the time I didn't feel like my privacy
was being violated, nor did I know anyone else who did.

That said, I wasn't one of the many students harbouring drugs in their
lockers.

We'd had drug searches before, but they'd always come with a warning.
For those with marijuana in a pocket, locker or backpack that meant
time to get rid of the goods.

Not this day. They were stuck.

Just a single student was charged with possession of marijuana and
magic mushrooms, but you'd be foolish to think he was the only one
hiding drugs in the building that day.

You could see them in the crowd; that PA announcement ignited more
than a few sweaty palms and chalk-white faces. The guilt-ridden wanted
to run to their locker and find their stash before police did. But
even requests to visit the bathroom were turned down.

It's no secret that drugs are in schools. Some students get high in
the morning at the bus stop, at lunch, between classes whenever and
wherever they can.

And I don't see that changing anytime soon. But I do think police and
the schools lost a valuable tool with the Supreme Court ruling. Yes,
teenagers like everyone else deserve the right to privacy. And if the
police want to bring a search dog into my bedroom for no reason, then
yes, I'd say my rights were being violated.

But for me, the bottom line is this: When you bring illegal substances
into school a public institution of learning, where safety is top
priority then you've made it everyone's problem.