KANAWHA SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT WANTS DRUG-DOG SEARCHES OF STUDENTS

Becky Jordon Says The Kanawha County School System Doesn't Need A
Prescription Drug-Related Death.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Becky Jordon says the Kanawha County school
system doesn't need a prescription drug-related death.

Jordon, the school board president, is willing to allow drug dogs
into county schools to sniff out students for prescription pills.

"We want the drugs out of the school," she said. "We don't need a fatality."

Students have grown wise to the tactics of teachers and principals,
and hide prescription drugs in their pants, underpants and shoes, Jordon said.

"We have principals screaming about the problem," Jordon said. "We
need to stay one step ahead of the kids. They don't need to keep the
students two steps ahead of the administrators."

About five years ago, school board members revised a policy to allow
drug dogs to randomly search students for drug possession -- if
Superintendent Ron Duerring specifically allows it, school board
attorney Jim Withrow said.

School officials just never thought to implement student searches
until recently, Jordon said.

Cpl. Charles Young, canine commander for Charleston Police, said some
of the dogs that police officers train are able to detect
prescription drugs such as OxyContin, a powerful painkiller.

Young's dog, Bishop, is trained to smell the illegal pill ecstasy.
Once a month, Charleston's canine officials get together to train
dogs, and State Police units often join them, Young said.

"You know, you move with the times and now prescription [drugs are]
the deal," he said.

Young said city police plan to train a dog or two to smell for Xanax,
a prescription drug used to treat anxiety and panic disorders.

Earlier this spring, George Washington High School Principal Melissa
Ruddle said students have been caught with Xanax and drugs like
Adderall and Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit disorder.

"The teachers need to let us know what they have a problem with," Young said.

In the past, it was normal to alert on the presence of pills when a
suspect possessed marijuana or had the odor of burnt marijuana on
him, Young said. These days, that's not always the case.

Training for pills

Mike O'Neil, a professor at the University of Charleston's School of
Pharmacy, said there's nothing different about a dog sniffing for
chemicals in a prescription drug or for those in cocaine or heroin.

If a dog has been trained on heroin alone, she should also be able to
detect Dilaudid, oxycodone, hydrocodone or morphine because the
chemical structures are similar, O'Neil said.

O'Neil has been a longtime dog handler and trainer for law enforcement.

He'll start to train a dog with marijuana, for instance, and teach
her that identifying the odor is part of a game.

Once the dog has considered the search for marijuana a game, O'Neil
can begin to add one drug at a time, like Xanax, to the game.

One necessity when training, O'Neil said, is that a dog be trained on
pure drugs. For instance, a crumbled Lortab might contain hydrocodone
and 650 milligrams of Tylenol.

If a dog is trained on that substance, he'll later hit on every
Tylenol bottle during a search.

"That's not appropriate," O'Neil said. "You want to be dealing with
the purest substance possible."

After a dog has learned to detect OxyContin, for example, Charleston
canine officers will test the dog by laying down a bologna sandwich
with one or two pills, Young said.

"It's a little tougher for them," he said.

'Passive' searches of people

O'Neil says a passive indicator of drug detection is ideal when
searching people. An aggressive indicator means the dog will paw,
scratch or bite when it's found a drug or material.

You don't want a bomb dog to be an aggressive indicator, O'Neil said.

"We don't want to go out and just sic the dog on you," Young added.

A passive indicator means the end result of a search is that the dog
will sit or lie down, O'Neil said. However, trainers need to keep an
eye on changes in the dog's behavior before she sits down, he said.

"Usually, you look for the obvious changes in their body," Young
said. "Sometimes it's just their breathing changes."

The dog's changes can be extremely important when it comes to
procedural questions in a courtroom, O'Neil said.

"You have to be able to read your dog because they are going to have
body behavior changes and mood changes," he said. "Being able to read
your dog is very, very critical."

Jordon believes she can speak for the rest of the school board
members in wanting to allow some searches of students. The other
board members are Robin Rector, Jim Crawford, Pete Thaw and Bill Raglin.

Thaw agrees with Jordon, and is even interested to see how much it
might cost the school board to buy its own dog. Law enforcement
officials could care for the dog and use it at schools and for other
matters, he said.

"The medicine cabinet is becoming the biggest drug problem we have,"
Thaw said. "I hope we can get the dogs that can smell prescription drugs."

For now, Charleston Police officers continue to research the issue
but do not individually search students like they would lockers or
backpacks, Young said. It's an issue that has been contested in
different courts with varying results, he said.

"Unfortunately like everyone we've got to worry about getting sued,"
Young said. "We want to be completely correct and check all aspects of it."