MP WANTS RANDOM SCHOOL DRUG CHECKS

POLICE sniffer dogs should be used to randomly check public and private
high schools for drugs, including students' lockers, clothing and bags,
according to one of WA's most senior politicians.

Deputy Opposition Leader Dan Sullivan this week called for Labor to support
the controversial idea, which he said would act as a major deterrent to
young people taking drugs on to school grounds.

Mr Sullivan said drugs were present at most WA high schools, a claim
supported by South-West principals who said this week students had been
caught with drugs at their schools at various times.

At Australind Senior High School, WA's biggest country school, half a dozen
students a week are caught with drugs, according to P&C president Ann Mills.

Mr Sullivan, the Liberal MLA for Mitchell, said cracking down on drugs
should be one the most important issues being addressed by all political
parties.

His party produced figures this week showing 44 per cent of Australians
between the ages of 14 and 19 had tried cannabis.

"A lot of kids would think twice about taking drugs on to school grounds if
they knew their school could be checked," Mr Sullivan said. "It would scare
the pants off them.

"To civil libertarians and others who say this is an invation of privacy, I
say tough.

"If Health Minister Bob Kucera and Education Minister Alan Carpenter want
to go down this path they have my full personal support.

"This is not about throwing kids in jail. It is about teaching them that
drugs will damange their health and lead to a serious drug dependency.

"If this stops one kid putting a needle in his arm it is worth it."

But Mr Carpenter and Mr Kucera have opposed the introduction of random
searches by sniffer dogs.

Mr Kucera said the practice would create divisions at schools.

Council for Civil Liberties president Peter Weygers said parents should be
outraged by the idea. "Why subject hundreds of innocent kids to this Big
Brother ploy for the sake of a few," he said.