SCHOOLS MORE VULNERABLE TO DRUGS

Supreme Court Rulings Ends Random Searches

Over the last while, it has been widely accepted by society that a
mainstay of the high school system was random drug dog searches.

It used to be a routine event that a class would be interrupted by a
drug dog search, complete with the dogs sniffing every single
classroom member. Sometimes, drugs were found, other times, they
weren't. But a recent decision by the Supreme Court regarding drug
dogs will practically end the ability of police to do random searches.

The question is: what ramifications will this have in the upcoming
school year? How are regular students, like me for example, at risk?
It is clear that drugs will now be at the disposal of kids in our
schools, with very little standing in their way.

This decision was borne out of, primarily, a random drug dog search
in a school in the Toronto area. In one student's bag, marijuana and
other drug paraphernalia were found. The student challenged the
search based on his privacy rights, and the Supreme Court decided in
his favour.

This brings us to the first main issue: the fact that the threat of
drugs are real in our schools. There are real students doing real
drugs, and often, schools are powerless to stop them.

Drugs are easily concealable and can often bypass many human senses.
They present a real and tangible danger to the fabric of the learning
environment. Not to mention, drugs bring otherwise innocent kids into
a dark world of detachment from family and friends.

Our schools should primarily be responsible for ensuring they are
working in tandem with police to stop drugs.

The danger of drugs is well known, but the drug users of our schools
must be laughing right now. The Supreme Court's decision provides
them with a beautiful path to use and even traffic drugs in school.
They are exploiting the absolute necessity and beauty of our privacy
rights in Canada to carry out their trade.

We are so very lucky in Canada to have certain privacy rights and
human rights. There are some people on Earth who would fight wars for
these rights.

But rights also come with responsibilities. Responsibilities include
having to follow the laws of the land, as well as ensuring that you
do not infringe on the rights of others. By bringing drugs to school,
you are breaking laws and infringing on the right of every Canadian
student to have a safe education. This is a sad thing: when the
beauty of our rights are exploited to serve criminal purposes.

With that said, the upcoming school year will be the first full year
with this new mandate of reduced or no drug dog searches. As a
student, I believe you will see more drugs in our schools. Drug dogs
and police will no longer be able to stop the constant flow of these
materials in school.

It will be difficult for school administration to co-ordinate
evidence against certain individuals for possessing drugs. Students
will be at risk from these people who do drugs.

Make no mistake, they are in our schools, and they are here to stay
because of this ruling.