DRUG DOGS CAN BE EFFECTIVE TOOLS

Steamboat Springs -- Allowing a drug-sniffing dog to check student lockers
and vehicles at Steamboat Springs High School is a reasonable and
potentially effective method for reducing the presence of narcotics on
school grounds.

It's unfortunate such a step is even necessary, but the level of drug use
among our high school and middle school students appears to warrant it.
Just past the halfway mark of the 2008-09 school year, the district
already has seen twice as many students recommended for expulsion because
of drug-or alcohol-related violations than it did during the 2007-08
school year. At the high school, 12 students have faced expulsion for
drugs or alcohol. About half that many are facing expulsion at Steamboat
Springs Middle School.

Anonymous student surveys conducted in recent years also point to a
substantial drug problem. Survey results have revealed that as many as
half of all high school students have smoked marijuana, and about 20
percent have experimented with harder drugs such as cocaine and
methamphetamine.

"We do have a problem," Superintendent Shalee Cunningham said. "We're not
going to tolerate it."

It would be naive to think a K-9 unit sniffing school lockers and vehicles
parked in the school parking lot will end drug use among our teens. But
what it will do is help ensure a safe, drug-free environment within the
walls of our high school -- and that's something we believe all students
should be provided, particularly those who choose a drug-free lifestyle.

Some will argue that drug-sniffing dogs in our schools violate the Fourth
Amendment and students' right to privacy and that students shouldn't be
subjected to unreasonable or unwarranted searches. However, the courts
have ruled that using a trained drug-sniffing dog to indiscriminately
search the outside of student lockers and vehicles doesn't constitute an
illegal search, nor does it violate their right to privacy. Court rulings
have taken an opposite stance when dogs are brought into contact with
students for search purposes.

School officials have made clear that students themselves will not be
searched or brought in contact with the drug dogs. Instead, the dog will
be walked through school hallways while students are kept in classrooms.

Cunningham hopes the searches turn up no drugs but that they send a clear
message to students.

"I just want to send the message that alcohol and drugs are not to be on
campus," Cunningham said. "They're not conducive to a safe learning
environment."

Communities expect their schools to be drug-free zones, and Steamboat
Springs should be no different. Bringing a drug-sniffing dog on the high
school campus won't keep teens from using illicit drugs, but it might help
keep those drugs off school grounds. That's a goal worth supporting.