SCHOOL'S POT POLICY A NOSEWORTHY IDEA

Marijuana smoke has an unmistakable odour. And at Dartmouth High School,
that pungent aroma has administrators' noses out of joint.

The school's principal, Phil Legere, says students who reek of reefer will
no longer be welcome in its halls. The first offence is punishable by a
five-day suspension. Being caught a second time will result in banishment
for the rest of the school year.

The justification for such punishment is the obvious negative effect coming
to class stoned can have on a student's ability to learn.

In defence of the school's policy, Mr. Legere said: "You know, students who
are under the influence (of marijuana) are definitely more lethargic, and I
think there are a lot of studies that would prove it interferes with
short-term memory."

Most marijuana decriminalization and legalization activists dismiss such
studies. Even so, no one would question a rule that kept drunk students out
of class, or barred students high on amphetamines or PCP.

Alcohol use can be detected by a breathalyser. Speed and PCP produce
behavioural symptoms that aren't difficult to spot. The presence and
effects of marijuana are not so obvious.

Traces of the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, tetrahydrocannibinol,
also known as THC, are readily discernible in blood samples. But high
schools have neither the equipment nor the authority to analyze the blood
of all students who pass through their doors. In the absence of a better
alternative, the smell test is effective, at least for detecting the
smoking of marijuana. Of course, the substance can be ingested by other
means that leave no telltale odour.

Dartmouth High's policy appears to fly in the face of public opinion and
legislative initiatives that favour the decriminalization of marijuana.
However, the decriminalization movement's arguments apply only to adults,
not children.

Even if they are computer-literate and media-savvy, teenagers should not go
to school under the influence of a non-prescription psychoactive drug.
Dartmouth High has the right, and the responsibility, to enforce sobriety
on its campus.

But the smell test is not foolproof. It doesn't distinguish between those
who have actually smoked pot and those who were merely in the vicinity of
such activity. Each case should be treated individually, and reasonable
leeway should be granted.

In this case, discretion would be the better part of fervour.