DRUG SNIFFING DOGS DUE BACK AT SCHOOLS

RIVERSIDE - Riverside schools will once again use dogs to sniff out
drugs and weapons.

The board of the Riverside Unified School District decided Tuesday to
reinstate the use of drug-detecting dogs on campus. The school
district stopped using the dogs in 2000 after Attorney General Bill
Lockyer issued an opinion suggesting the searches might violate
student civil rights.

Superintendent Susan Rainey said the district's lawyers have
determined that using the dogs is allowable as long as they sniff
backpacks and bags only, not the students themselves.