DRUG DOGS FOR SCHOOLS

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- A school board in B.C.'s Fraser Valley will likely
approve a controversial draft drug policy today to bring drug dogs
into schools despite outrage by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
Abbotsford trustee and policy committee chairman Don Szostak said the
board has studied the policy carefully and will likely approve it in
principle today.

"The plan is to vote to approve it in principle and then go out for
stakeholder input," Szostak said yesterday.

Usually, stakeholder input is sought before a policy is approved in
principle, but Szostak said board members wanted to get moving.

"We've spent a long time working on this policy," he said, adding the
board could still rescind it after the input period ends in January.

B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director Murray Molland has
raised concerns about the impact on students if dogs give a false
positive alert when sniffing a locker. That happens in 20 per cent of
cases, he said.

"The school board is embarking on a disastrous path that will
certainly lead to false accusations and wrongly stigmatize students as
drug users," Molland said.

But Szostak said the district has addressed that by inserting a
provision to bar students from hallways when dogs conduct tests and
ensure locker searches are done after hours.