READERS TAKE ISSUE WITH MY HIGH SCHOOL BUST COLUMN

Reader response came fast and furious to last Friday's critical column of a
drug sting at Oakville's General Wolfe High School

My point was that the two month investigation, which cost about $6000 but
netted only $1000 in soft drugs was both a misguided use of resources and
ethically questionable.

Police and Halton District School officials, who sanctioned dropping the
undercover cop into the school, obviously feel otherwise, and so did most
of the readers who took the time to pick up the phone to either express
thier views or take a run at mine.

Police laid drug trafficking charges against 14 teenagers as a result of
the covert operation. Eleven are charged under the Young Offenders Act, the
three others are 18 year olds. Some of the alleged dealers are from General
Wolfe, some are from other schools, and some are no longer students.

One of the calls that lit up my office voice mailcame from the father of
one of the accused. "My son was one of the kids arrested and charged with
trafficking," he began. "It has done him a lot of good. He gaurantees me
he'll never be involved in drugs again. So if the big cost is such a
concern to you, it has saved my son. I don't care what the price is."

Another caller said he usually likes my stuff, but not this time.
"Teenagers have to know what the law is, and they are not supposed to sell
drugs at school. I think you have to start young when you start with
discipline. You don't do it when you are your age. Sir, I think you are
whacky. Goodbye and thank you."

Caller John Reid said he's diametrically opposed to my position and will
remain so as long as narcotics are illegal. He acknowledges that the war
against drugs is a losing battle, but he has no qualms about using
undercover cops in schools. "I don't understand why one side has to play by
the rules and the others don't," he said.

One anonymous caller shares the Halton police view that it's wrong to
measure the success of an undercover investigation by comparing the
expenses to the results. "It's an absolute absurdity that you would suggest
that there is some financial equivalent as to the cost of this thing versus
how much drugs they obtained in a bust. I just don't know where you're
coming from on this one."

Another reader who said he smoked pot in high school and college and admits
he still does said he was glad to see the sting operation questioned. He
said it was frivolous and not likely to deter anyone from using illisit drugs.

He was in the minority, though. So was the uncivil call from the anonymous
cop who sounded as if he was high on caffine. Here it is in its entirety:

"Yeah, i'm glad I got the machine because I won't be interrupted this way.
I was reading your article about the Halton bust. Where did you get the
idea that there's a success rate when you go into something like this?

"Obviously, people like yourself who have no comprehension of what the
police do and have never been in this type of situation before are going to
criticize it.

"Anytime an undercover officer gets in, makes a buy, and gets out without
getting killed, it's a success. So that's how it has to be measured, not
the quantity, not the value.

"Unfortunately, ball-less idiots like you who sit behind a desk risking
paper cuts everyday have no comprehension what the police do, OK? It's bad
enough that we get criticized for everything else we do. If you're talking
about youths' rights, no one has fewer than a cop because we're under
scrutiny from everybody.

"Most of the kids today are great kids, but the ones that are screwing
things up have to be dealt with. If you can't understand that then you're
thicker than you sound in the paper. Have a good day, and i hope you're
never a victim of youth crime."

Thanks for the thought, but it's too late. Now let me clarify something for
you.

I'm not defending the kids who are selling drugs in school. I'm speaking up
for those who aren't, but are still subjected to having a sp parachuted
into their midst for what amounts to a fishing expidition.

There's a particular sound that I always associate with these kinds of
tactics. It's the same sound that I hear in my head when I read about
undercover prostitution stings. It's the sound of clumping boots forming an
iron ring of entrapment.

Checked-by: Richard Lake