CALL OFF THOSE SCHOOL DOGS

Recently I attended a public meeting of the Helena Public School Board
of Trustees for the purpose of discussing their continuing to allow
law enforcement officers with police dogs to sniff all high school
lockers while teachers and students are locked in their rooms under
the suspicion of being common criminals.

We pay administrators of public schools generous salaries because we
expect them to use good judgment in providing a quality education to
our students, the most important resource in the community. On the
issue of police dogs running down the hall with no warning, the policy
is disruptive and is doing more harm than good. It is time to call off
the dogs.

The Board has adopted as their motto "Helena Public Schools foster
dynamic educational experiences that prepare all students for life."
Becoming an arm of law enforcement to prosecute students hardly meets
their chosen standard.

Here are the reasons the policy should be discontinued:

Discouraging harmful drug use is a goal we all share but this concern
has escalated from hysteria to over-reaction.

Eighty-five percent of America's health problems attributable to drug
use results from the use of two addictive drugs, alcohol and nicotine.
The remaining 15 percent is attributable to all other drugs combined,
legal and illegal.

The "Partnership For A Drug Free America" is funded by the alcohol and
nicotine industries exempting their drugs from the wide-spread
campaigns. Meanwhile they continue to addict millions of people world
wide while they make billions for themselves.

Relying on law enforcement to have the responsibility of reducing
harmful drug use is not working. The more money we pour into the
criminal justice system the less money we have for badly under funded
treatment programs.

The present program is costing us $40 billion of our tax dollars this
year with more illegal drugs available now then 30 years ago when
Richard Nixon thought it was a good idea. Those who still support his
approach after thirty years of failure insist that if we just keep
adding more money to law enforcement each year we will eventually
solve the problem.

Law enforcement is trained to punish not treat those they incarcerate.
The criminal justice system can destroy future job prospects and
prisons do not provide new opportunities for those who want to break
the cycle of addiction.

Police dogs in our high schools as an extension of law enforcement are
woefully ineffective in protecting students or teachers because they
cannot detect more serious threats such as methamphetamine, guns,
knives, or alcohol.

Locking up students and teachers while police dogs run up and down the
hall for a half hour with no advance warning is not a "dynamic
educational experience" as promised by the Board.

Call your high school principal and tell him to call off the dogs and
get back to educating and not prosecuting students. Maybe the Board of
Trustees will get the message and live up to their own ideals.