18% OF STUDENT PROBATIONERS FAIL DRUG SCREENS

About 18 percent of juvenile probationers who attend Tippecanoe
County schools failed random drug screens administered by the
probation office on April 26.

It was the second year in a row that Tippecanoe County probation
officers have visited schools to administer drug screen tests shortly
after April 20, designated by some as "420 Day."

Since the 1970s, 420 has been used as a code word by marijuana
connoisseurs for their drug of choice.

"This is going to continue. ... It's a nationally recognized thing,"
Joshua Vander Plaats, a juvenile probation officer who organized the
local mass screenings, said of 420 Day.

"It's embedded in the drug culture. It's advertised in magazines;
it's advertised on the radio. It's becoming a coined phrase."

Last year, 88 percent of students screened were negative for illegal
drug use. The numbers were not as good this year, with only 82
percent having negative tests, Vander Plaats said.

Of the 152 probationers sampled, 17 tested positive for marijuana;
four for amphetamine; three for cocaine; two for nicotine (tobacco);
and one for benzodiazepine (prescription anti-seizure medication).

Juvenile court Judge Loretta Rush said she is disappointed with the results.

"These youth knew they were going to be drug screened as a regular
term of probation and used anyway," Rush said. "Many of the youth
that tested positive had completed intensive drug treatment programs
and will have to go through additional drug treatment, aftercare and
relapse prevention."

On a positive note, though, Rush said all those in the juvenile drug
court program had clean screens.

About 41 percent of those tested -- 63 -- were Jefferson High School
students, but they had a relatively low rate of positive drug screens.

Vander Plaats said several probationers told officers they had
expected the surprise screenings.

Rush said those who failed their screens will be brought back to
court and could face a variety of consequences, ranging from
community service to short-term detention.

Altogether about 450 juveniles in Tippecanoe County are subject to
some kind of supervision by the probation department.