DEATH OF 13-YEAR-OLD PROMPTS REVIEW OF ANTI-DRUG PROGRAMS

Challenge Is Getting Through To At-Risk Teens

The recent death of a 13-year-old girl from Rigaud after taking
ecstasy is reviving debate over how best to combat drug use among teenagers.

Existing anti-drug programs, while effective for most students, could
be improved to target teenagers at risk of abusing alcohol and drugs,
said Mike Miller, principal of Westwood High School, which has
campuses in Hudson and St. Lazare.

Stevie Reilly, a Grade 8 student at Westwood, died last month after
consuming ecstasy.

A 16-year-old Hudson boy, who didn't attend Westwood, has pleaded
guilty to three counts of drug trafficking and five other charges. He
is to be sentenced later this month.

"We're going to review what we do and we're going to try and reach
more kids," Miller said.

"If anything, Stevie's death alerted all of us. We've got to pay
attention to our kids. But by ourselves we're not going to tackle the problem."

Miller, along with social and health workers, are meeting privately
next week in Hudson to discuss new ways to combat drug use. Plans for
the meeting had been made a few days before the girl's death, when a
parent informed a Hudson community worker that she'd seen teenagers
crushing and snorting amphetamine (speed) tablets.

Less than a month before Stevie's death, Miller brought an anti-drug
activist to speak at Westwood's junior high school campus in St.
Lazare, which has 475 students.

Westwood also has a project where Grade 8 students write letters to
their Grade 7 peers, urging them to avoid drugs.

"The issue really is that the kids who are at risk aren't listening,"
Miller said.

A more controversial idea being revived by one school commissioner is
the use of police sniffer dogs to check for drugs in students'
lockers. In 2000, the principal of Hudson High School - which was
later renamed Westwood - brought in dogs to search students' lockers
for marijuana.

The use of dogs sparked a debate between proponents of random
searches, who argued schools must take a tough stance against drugs,
and opponents, who raised concerns over civil liberties.

In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that teachers and
principals can search students on school premises if they believe
school rules are being broken. Their reasoning: Ridding schools of
drugs justifies searching students without a warrant.

Advocates of random searches say growing concerns over drug use by
teens would make the idea more palatable to the public.

"I now believe if we were to put forth that proposal today, there
would be a different view," said Marcus Tabachnick, chairperson of
the Lester B. Pearson School Board. "Personally, I think it's a good
thing to do."

But Miller noted that dogs wouldn't detect drugs in tablet form -
like ecstasy or speed - which are now being spotted more often in
Quebec schools.