VERNONIA PONDERS POT AGAIN

The case of a wayward principal reignites debate about drug use in the
Columbia County community

Aaron Miller must have had an awful feeling in his stomach when a
Clatsop County sheriff's deputy approached him in a public park this
month and asked him, "Have you been smoking pot?"

Miller said yes, which wouldn't be news except that a) he is an
elementary school principal in the Vernonia School District, and b)
the district argued all the way to the Supreme Court in 1995 that it
had the right to test all student-athletes for illegal drug use. The
court agreed.

Schools Superintendent Kenneth Cox says he supports Miller, who will
be disciplined but won't lose his job. Miller and Cox promise to speak
publicly about the charge later, but both are waiting for Miller's
court hearing next month.

Other bits of context: Illegal drugs, including marijuana, are a
high-profile issue in Vernonia and the surrounding area. For example,
a postal carrier in Vernonia was recently arrested and charged with
distributing pot from his delivery truck. Vernonia police conduct drug
raids and seize marijuana.

On the other hand, marijuana is legal to smoke for certain medical
conditions, and it's not uncommon at many public gatherings, as well
as on college campuses and in private homes. The Clatsop County
district attorney has applauded Oregon's "sensible approach" to
treating marijuana possession in small amounts as an offense on par
with a speeding ticket.

So Miller's conduct and his boss's defense of him are caught in
crosscurrents about society's attitude toward recreational use of
marijuana, about the way Vernonia schools view illegal drugs, about
the difference between adults and minors, and between people in public
employment and positions of leadership and those who are expected to
serve under them. Should Miller's misdeed be shrugged off, or should
it cause him to lose his job leading students and staff in the
Vernonia School District?

The district's rush to defend him and to say that his job is safe
strikes us as the wrong impulse.

How can a district that has, quite literally, made a federal case
about the use of illegal drugs by students ignore the same offense by
an adult who is charged with supervising them? How can anything the
district says about avoiding drugs in the future be taken seriously by
students, parents or staff? How can the district continue to justify
its no-tolerance policy toward student-athletes who are found to take
illegal drugs?

An alternative approach for the district might have been to start by
saying that Miller's job is in jeopardy, but no formal action will be
taken until the case is finished. He might be allowed to keep his job,
the district could have said, but only following an airing with all
the stakeholders in public schools -- parents, students and staff. And
Miller still would have to be disciplined and make a public apology.

That would have muted the concerns about a double standard and kept
the pressure on Miller and his bosses to set an appropriate example
for the district's students.