STUDENTS, TEACHERS DISMISS MAYOR'S DRUG-USE CLAIM

Teachers and students are reacting with shock to Bob Chiarelli's
claim that 40 to 60 per cent of the city's student body could be
smoking pot during the course of the school day.

While police and principals are waiting until the municipal election
is over to comment, studies, and student estimates, indicate
Chiarelli's numbers are much higher than reality.

When pressed on the source of the numbers, Chiarelli told CTV that he
received the information from a vice-principal who was apparently
talking about one particular day at their school. The school was
later identified as John McCrae High School in Barrhaven.

Chiarelli made the comment on pot use as a part of his election
platform crime strategy, which focuses on youth crimes. He told the
Ottawa Citizen that drug use, especially marijuana, is a problem at
some schools.

He wants to increase the number of full-time school resource
officers, , from 22 to 33. This would allow for one officer for every
10 schools instead 15.

According to the 2005 Ontario Student Drug Use Study, in which 7, 726
students from Grades seven to 12 were anonymously polled, just over a
quarter of students reported using marijuana. Thirty-one per cent
reported trying it at least once in their lifetime. Just over 13 per
cent of the respondents admitted to daily marijuana use.

Several students at Lisgar Collegiate Institute expressed shock when
told of Chiarelli's comment. "Of course people sometimes get high
before class, or I guess more so during lunch," said one female Grade
11 student, surrounded by a group of giggling friends, who appeared
nervous when asked about the level of drug use. "Many of the older
students have, at least once. But certainly not every day."

Lisgar students in an informal poll estimated the number of students
high at school to be between five to 10 per cent. The estimated
figure by students outside of Immaculata Catholic High School was
higher at 15 to 20 per cent.

"Of course there is marijuana," said one Grade 12 student,
nonchalantly digging through his backpack while responding. "We're
all kids, we've all done drugs."

Students are not the only ones who noticed the staggering difference
between the reality and the comments by Chiarelli.

Mike Foster, the owner of Crosstown Traffic, a shop that sells drug
paraphernalia near Glebe Collegiate, says that he sees only a small
number of high school students in its clientele.

He believes that the extra police resource officers suggested by
Chiarelli would be better spent in the downtown core, where harder
drugs have become an issue.

"I think that Chiarelli is just trying to score easy political
points, using teenagers and marijuana at the forefront rather than
dealing with the real issues in the city."

He is not alone. Many believe that Chiarelli's comments had nothing
to do with education and drug policy, and everything to do with the
fact that he is in the heated last stages of the election.

For this reason, principals and teachers have issued a unified "no
comment" on the mayor's statements, fearing that a comment would
indicate political affiliation one way or another.

Sharlene Hunter, a communications officer with the Ottawa-Carleton
District School Board, was quick to differentiate between what she
calls "the politics of youth crime and education" as presented by
Chiarelli, and the real issues themselves.

"As a school, our eyes are not closed to drugs. We want to help. But
our job is to educate, not to police."