OTHER SCHOOL'S MAY FOLLOW A.S.S.'S DRUG-FREE EXAMPLE

Now that Ashcroft Secondary School is a drug-free zone, can Lillooet
Secondary and other Gold Trail secondary schools be far behind?

Kaye-Lynn Smyly, president of the student council at Ashcroft Secondary,
and vice-president Damian Couture appeared at the Jan. 25 school board
meeting in Lillooet to explain the drug-free zone program to trustees.

After the students' presentation, trustees unanimously supported Trustee
Dave Watkins' motion to endorse in principle the drug-free initiative.

Smyly told the board that a clear majority of students in a school-wide
vote supported the proposal to implement the drug-free zone. She said a
poll revealed that 75 per cent of students believe there is a drug problem
at Ashcroft Secondary.

"It is essential that all students at our school be made aware of your
support in upholding their decision to rid the school of substance abuse as
well as all the problems that accompany it," stated Smyly. "We are now
working on the first phase of this program, which is informing all of the
schoolA s stakeholders about our plans to remove the use of drugs from our
school."

To keep the drug culture from moving near Ashcroft Elementary, its PAC
unanimously voted to join the secondary school in implementing that safety
goal.

Declaring a school a drug-free zone gives education stakeholders a chance
to take back their schools and make them drug-free.

The Ashcroft plan is based on the Kamloops model, where signs are erected
in a two-block radius of participating schools to define each of those
areas. Anyone caught in that area in possession of drugs will be charged
(no tolerance) and reports forwarded to Crown Counsel. Any resulting
penalties involving probation, community service work, etc. will be
doubled. For anyone caught and found to be in possession of drugs for the
purpose of trafficking or trafficking, the penalties will be tripled.