DRUGS IN HIGH SCHOOL: 'YOU CAN GET ANY DRUG YOU WANT'

They wander the halls, moving back and forth from group to group.

They make their way through our high schools, tempting each and every student.

Some lurk inside lockers.

Others hide in coat pockets, jean pockets...any place where students
think they won't be found.

They are drugs.

Each student has heard of them and every high school has them in
varying degrees, with more and more kinds making their way into the
hands of students, says Detective Constable Ernie Garbutt of the
Kawartha Combined Drug Forces Unit.

"I think, in high schools you can get whatever drug you want," he
says, adding cocaine and ecstasy are becoming almost as popular as
that old staple, marijuana.

"It (marijuana) was always there but it wasn't flaunted," says Det.
Const. Garbutt, noting marijuana is now prevalent but so too are
chemical drugs.

According to a report issued by the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health regarding drug use amongst Ontario students, as of 2005,
cocaine use was on the rise. While use of that drug reached a plateau
in 1979, its use remains elevated and is increasing.

Det. Const. Garbutt and his team monitor drug use in nine schools,
including schools in Peterborough and schools in neighbouring
communities such as Haliburton, Lindsay, and Campbellford. While they
monitor what drugs students are buying and selling at schools, they
are mostly after the known traffickers who go to the schools to make
a quick buck.

"We video them...you usually see the known dealers," he says.

"We are after the traffickers. Kids experiment. You never know when
we're going to come but we are watching them."

Usually Det. Const. Garbutt and his team know a drug deal is going
down based on the hoards of students who gather around a car just off
school property.

School officials typically want to keep these things under close
watch but not to the point where attention is drawn to a particular school.

"Schools don't want their school known as a drug school. Every school
is like that. I've been to private schools and seen the same thing.
We want to show you (drug traffickers) are not fooling anybody."
However, they are enticing some children and teens, he says.

Whether it is through cost, product or packaging, cocaine, ecstasy
and other drugs are making their way into high schools in ways that
are appealing to students.

"It's not hard to find them downtown," Det. Const. Garbutt explains,
noting how cocaine baggies are usually bright red and have the words
"Stay high" written on them.

"They are all made to entice," he says.

"That drug is certainly not a hard one to get. It's more accessible
these days. It's enticement for younger children (or teens). If it
smells or looks nice, it can't be that bad. The more drug you use,
the more you need."

Peterborough Police Constable Steve Dyer encounters much the same thing.

"There is a steady upward trend in the use of chemical drugs," he says.

"They're accessible, cheap and it doesn't leave a lot of evidence."

Some traffickers are even using teens as dealers in the schools.

"Money is the object of all evil," Det. Const. Garbutt says, adding
sometimes even parents are behind some of the drug operations.

"It's pretty sad when the bedroom is being used as a grow room. Some
(teens) get it from parents. Sometimes they deal it not knowing what it is."

According to 17-year-old Kristyn Milligan, a Kenner Collegiate
student, marijuana is big at the south-end Peterborough high school
but other drugs aren't there yet.

"Kenner's not really a huge school for that," she says.

That said, she says she has heard of other drugs making it into other
schools as well as be prevalent in the downtown core of Peterborough.

"I have heard random stuff, like there's cocaine somewhere or 'E'
(ecstasy) somewhere. Other stuff is getting bigger."

Two students from St. Peter's Secondary School, who are co-oping at
the city police station, say they know drugs are in their school.
However, they have not encountered any drug activity firsthand.

"I guess they (drugs) are everywhere," says 17-year-old Dustin York.

"We see them, every day, come from the downtown area. It just seems
like there's more kids going down that road."

Christy Mark, 18, says it's evident who does drugs.

"If you needed something, you would know who to go to."

Ms Mark thinks it's important police search schools to find drugs but
adds it can be a little invasive.

"In a way, I feel it's invading my privacy but it's good. I've got
nothing to hide."

While schools are doing their best to keep kids informed through
assemblies and information sessions, the fact remains drugs are still
in high schools across the region, Det. Const. Garbutt says.

So what can parents do?

"Parents should walk around their child's room," he says, adding
parents shouldn't look at CDs or posters but what's lying around on
the bedroom floor.

Pop bottles, burnt spoons, razor blades, cigarette papers, dime
baggies, pipes and even pacifiers can signify a youth is into drugs,
Det. Const. Garbutt says.

While pacifiers may seem odd, teens taking ecstasy may use them to
heighten their high and to stop themselves from grinding their teeth,
which is an effect of the drug, he explains.

Such is the reason why schools and parents have to be aware of what's
out there and what teens are being faced with every day.

"You have to ask yourself why," Const. Dyer says.

"If you suspect it, that's the time to act. Try to keep the lines of
communication open."

Otherwise, the consequences could change a teen's life forever.

"When drugs take over your life, that's all that matters," Det.
Const. Garbutt says.