LOCAL SCHOOLS MAY USE AEROSOL SPRAY TO IDENTIFY DRUG USERS

Palm Beach County School District passed out the aerosol spray kits, which
detect drug residue on school desks or backpacks, to six high schools last
year to ensure the safety of the students and deter drug use.

The aerosol spray works by rubbing sticky paper on an object and then
spraying it with a chemical to find traces of any illicit drugs, such as
cocaine, marijuana, heroin, or Ecstasy.

If a drug is detected then the paper will display one of several colors,
depending upon the drug used, reddish-brown for marijuana, purple for
heroin, and yellow for amphetamines.

High school principals and teachers were concerned with truancy problems and
suspected drug use because of the scent of marijuana on some of students,
according to Nat Harrington, spokesman for Palm Beach County School
District. After careful consideration they decided to introduce the
'hi-tech' drug detection program into some area schools.

"The motive behind the use of this program is not to arrest the teenagers,
but to use the spray to deter other teens from using drugs and give the
parents the information needed to counsel their teens who are using drugs,"
he said.

According to Harrington, the program has been successful and has acted as a
deterrent at the participating schools.

David Robbe, history teacher at Boca Raton High School, would like to know
more about the guidelines that Palm Beach County School District has set for
determining when and how the tests on students' private property can be
conducted.

"There may be an issue with parents challenging the new procedure if their
child is identified as using an illicit substance, and I wonder if this
procedure is constitutional under the 4th amendment," he said.

Robbe believes that it is important that the community become aware of this
procedure, but it does not mean that there is a drug problem at local high
schools.

'The aerosol spray is used more as a deterrent and to provide a safe
environment for the entire student body, he said.

Parent, Debbie Strassburger has teenagers who attend Spanish River High
School and believes that the spray should be used correctly.

"I think that the new method for detecting drug use on school campuses
should be used to prevent bigger problems, such as finding children who are
using drugs and helping them to stop their addiction," she said.

According to Strassburger, the spray should only be used if there is a
suspicion of drug use, not for routine checks because it would be an
invasion of privacy for those teenagers who are not using illicit drugs.

Local parent Maureen Stout thinks that the spray is a good idea if drug use
is rampant on a particular high school campus or if certain students have
been repeatedly caught with drugs.

"Parents can never protect their children too much because it may be one of
our child's friends that could be using drugs and being a bad influence on
you own child," she said.

Local teenagers Brittany Buran and Laura Herman said that the use of an
aerosol spray to detect drugs would be preferable to the drug-sniffing dogs
that walk around their campuses.

"It seems like the spray would be able to be used during the entire school
year, especially for public schools, while the dogs may not be as easily
accessible," said Buran.

"The spray seems like a much more reliable method of catching students who
use drugs frequently," said Herman.