POT REPORTS PROVE TO BE UNFOUNDED IN FALLS

NEWTON FALLS -- School officials decided to try a bit of strategy to
expose drug use in the high school Friday, but their efforts went to
pot.

Principal John Crowder requested that officer Mike Laswell and his
police dog, Gator, sweep the school Friday morning after employees
heard students talking about Friday as a sort of drug holiday.

Friday's date was April 20 -- 4/20 -- which is a number of some
significance to marijuana culture. Pro-marijuana groups called for
April 20 to be a day of celebration as a ''reminder of the absurdity
of cannabis prohibition.''

This was news to Laswell, who said he saw similar fads come and go in
his 15 years with the city police.

''I had no idea what he was talking about,'' Laswell said. ''Crowder
keeps in touch with what's going on and what the students are saying.
That was the first time I've heard about it being a national pot
smokers' day.''

Laswell and Gator arrived at 9:47 a.m. as the school was locked down
for the search. The dog indicated that he smelled narcotics on four
lockers, but a search of the lockers turned up nothing.

Laswell said this wasn't unusual as drug sniffing dogs can pick up on
small trace scents of narcotics.

Crowder said it was an educator's responsibility to keep in mind the
day's significance.

''We do what we can so students know and understand that we will not
have drugs in the school,'' Crowder said.

Calls for celebration were posted on the Web sites for High Times
Magazine and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws. Allen St. Pierre, NORML's executive director, urged people to
''celebrate responsibly. ... and enjoy '420.'''

If Friday was some sort of ''pot smoker's Christmas,'' Laswell said
he doubted it would be more dangerous than any other day in Newton
Falls.

''Your typical pothead ... they keep to themselves,'' Laswell said.
''They're not like a crack or meth-head where they're out and robbing
people. They're likely to smoke and go, 'Cool dude,' and turn on some
Pink Floyd.''