POLICE TOLD LINCOLN HIGH ADMINISTRATORS OF DRUG DANGER 2 YEARS AGO

Officials Knew The Campus Had A Problem In 05, Well Before Kraig
Crow's Fatal Overdose

Portland police narcotics investigators warned Lincoln High School
administrators two years ago that some of their students had admitted
selling hard drugs on campus, including cocaine and LSD.

Police couldn't pull together enough evidence during their April 2005
investigation to make arrests, but then-Portland police Capt. Mike
Reese shared the findings with Peter Hamilton, Lincoln's former principal.

School officials said they couldn't talk specifically about what they
did with the police information, citing student privacy concerns. But
Hamilton acknowledged he'd been concerned about student drug use for
years and had taken a series of steps to address it. He said he hired
a drug and alcohol prevention specialist, beefed up parent patrols of
the neighborhood and invited guest speakers to talk to freshmen about
the danger of marijuana.

In the month since Lincoln graduate Kraig Crow died from an overdose
- -- and the days since two students pleaded guilty to helping him get
the drug -- students, parents and school officials expressed shock
that he had access to cocaine. But information from the 2005 case
suggests police and school officials knew several years ago that hard
drugs were in circulation on and off the Lincoln campus.

Now Hamilton and police wonder whether they did enough.

In 2005, "I thought (the school's) cooperation and response was
appropriate . . ." Reese said. "But I'm disappointed a young man lost
his life, and all of us didn't do more to interdict the drug problem there."

The 2005 investigation began after a school police officer found a
student with less than an ounce of marijuana and drug records that
included the names and phone numbers of buyers and the amounts of
drugs sold, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland police spokesman.

That led drugs and vice investigators to go to the school and
question students. Four students admitted they'd sold drugs on and
off campus, at times making more than $100 a week. Those students
pointed to several others who were using cocaine, marijuana, LSD and
hallucinogenic mushrooms and sometimes came to school high. When
officers asked students to rank drug use at Lincoln on a scale of one
to 10, with 10 being most extreme, they gave it a six.

Student Disciplined

The student caught with marijuana in 2005 was Alexander DiFranco, one
of two Lincoln High students who pleaded guilty last month to helping
Crow obtain cocaine. Emily Simon, DiFranco's attorney, said the
school disciplined him in 2005.

"Certainly, we alerted Lincoln High School that they had a
significant drug problem around the campus," said Reese, who was then
head of the drugs and vice division. "We offered to come back in the
fall and offered to talk to teachers, parents and students about
drug-and-alcohol issues."

Sarah Carlin Ames, a spokeswoman for the district, said Hamilton
didn't invite police to speak because the school had a federally
funded drug prevention program and other, more effective efforts
planned for the 2005-06 school year.

"The months since Kraig died last August have been a time of intense
soul-searching for the entire Lincoln community, particularly those
of us who knew him and his family," Hamilton said. "I am sure that
like me, the police involved and others have agonized about whether
we could have done more to address the drug problems at Lincoln and
in the community."

Although Hamilton can't comment on specific students, he said, "Not
only did our work with the police lead to very, very serious
disciplinary sanctions, it led to us following up on additional drug
issues that led to the most serious discipline sanctions."

Three Lincoln students were expelled or received delayed expulsion in
the 2004-05 school year, according to district statistics. Expelled
students can return the following school year if they prove they
attended a drug and alcohol treatment program. DiFranco was enrolled
in 2006-07, and his parents said in court that he had in the past
undergone drug and alcohol treatment.

Lack Of Evidence

In 2005, five days after police found DiFranco with the records,
narcotics officers conducted interviews with other Lincoln students
who admitted selling drugs. However, investigators did not find drugs
or evidence that would corroborate the students' accounts, and no one
was arrested. Schmautz said investigators tried to find the students'
suppliers but were unsuccessful.

Micah Persons, a former Portland police officer involved in the 2005
investigation who now works for the Oregon Department of Justice,
said the drugs and vice division doesn't typically investigate high
school drug dealing because it's usually on a small scale.

Lincoln students, however, described themselves as "middle men,"
Schmautz said. The dealers admitted to sometimes possessing more than
an ounce of cocaine at a time. Sales happened on the Lincoln campus
and at social events. The admitted drug dealers, all juveniles ages
16 to 17 years old, named other students who were selling or using drugs.

"It's hard to imagine a 16- or 17-year-old would be a mid-to
upper-level drug dealer, though you certainly come upon them,"
Schmautz said. "Not being a school resource officer, I have no idea
if this is an anomaly or if this is widespread."

School Tackles Problem

Hamilton said staff at Lincoln has worked for years on drug and
alcohol prevention. A health action network including parents,
students, administrators and teachers began meeting in 2004 to hone
prevention strategies. A peer education class debuted the same year,
and students ran safety campaigns before the prom and talked to
incoming freshmen about drugs and alcohol. In 2005, the school ran a
parent education program.

"We tend to avoid those one-shot assemblies where sometimes there are
scare tactics," Hamilton said.

District policy spells out the consequences for students caught in
possession or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. After their
first offense, students must attend, with a parent or guardian, a
six-hour "insight" class. They're also barred from after-school
activities and games for 28 days, and can be suspended for up to five
days or required to perform up to eight hours of community service.

Consequences get stiffer for repeat offenders, who can be expelled
unless they can prove they've attended drug and alcohol treatment.

The trouble is, such punishment often makes the disciplined teenager
seem more impressive to his peers, Simon said.

"In terms of reaction from other kids, instead of saying, 'Whoa,
that's really bad what that kid did,' they sort of become Jesse James
to their own culture," Simon said. "It gives them some kind of status."

Simon said the prosecution of the students involved in the Crow
overdose case should send a strong message to other youths that it's
not going to be business as usual.

"I think it's putting an unrealistic burden on the schools to think
they alone can deal with this problem," Simon said. "You really need
the whole entire community with all of its resources brought to bear."