STUDENTS TAUGHT LESSON

Police are cracking down on drugs around Saanich high schools, as part of a
two-week campaign by the Saanich police department to root out and charge
those involved in drug use and drug trafficking in school districts 61 and 63.

The campaign, called "Project Scholar", has resulted in 109 people being
identified with drugs or drug paraphernalia out of the 6,000 students that
attend high school in Saanich, Insp. John Charlton told reporters at a
media briefing Tuesday.

A number of arrests were made, including three charges of marijuana
possession for the purpose of trafficking and six charges of marijuana
possession. No charges for possession of "harder" drugs were laid, although
four individuals were charged with possessing a small amount of the drug
known as ecstasy.

Students caught with drugs faced suspensions and in some cases, lost
graduation privileges, Charlton said of the repercussions.

The schools monitored during Project Scholar were Reynolds secondary, Mount
Douglas Sr., Lansdowne Jr., Arbutus Jr., Lambrick Park secondary, Cedar
Hill junior secondary, Colquitz Jr., Spectrum Community school, Pacific
Christian school, St. Andrew's secondary, Claremont secondary and Royal Oak
middle school. Most of the schools named are part of Greater Victoria
School District 61. Claremont and Royal Oak are associated with the Saanich
School District (SD 63).

Although Project Scholar was a Saanich police initiative, Elaine Leonard,
SD 61 board chair, says the school board was aware of the ongoing police
surveillance during the campaign, adding she isn't surprised by the
findings. She says it would be naive to think drugs weren't available at or
nearby local schools.

"We do take these things very seriously... There were consequences,
clearly," says Leonard, adding police have informed the schools of the
individuals who were identified.

Depending on the infraction, schools have handed out discipline and/or
informed families.

The police campaign ran May 12 to 24 and was designed to determine the
scope of illicit drug activity involving students, Charlton explained. He
said police launched the drug enforcement campaign to complement existing
drug education programs. "I think the drug lectures do set out the dangers
of drugs and how it can impact your life, but until there's a project like
this students may not see first hand that anything actually happens,"
Charlton said.

Plainclothes police officers visited the 12 Saanich-based schools before
school, during lunch break and after school to look for drug-related
activities. Charlton emphasized that police didn't focus on specific
schools and there was no indication that drug use in some schools was more
prolific than others. Of the 109 people identified in Project Scholar,
about 30 were adults associating with students to buy or sell drugs during
school hours, Charlton said. The three trafficking charges involved
students under the age of 17.

By far, the most active time of day for drug trafficking was lunch hour,
when 86 people were found with drugs, compared to 12 before school and 11
after school. However, the undercover officers did not observe any actual
drug exchanges at the schools. Rather, drug deals took place off the school
grounds in adjacent parks, for example.

Charlton emphasized the importance of a multi-faceted approach to the
problem of drugs in local schools. "Teachers, school administrators,
parents, and enforcement working together in an ongoing effort will get an
important message out," he said. "Our schools and community will not
tolerate drugs."

Mike McKay, superintendent of SD 63, said that any drug activity is a
concern because it takes away from the focus and mandate of what schools
are doing. "Any time that kids are distracted from their good health or
their learning because of substances, it's a problem," McKay said.

School principals were reluctant to comment on specific punishments meted
out to students identified through Project Scholar, but they supported the
efforts of police. "We're thrilled the police are doing this," said
principal John Tinney at Claremont secondary. "We don't want drugs in our
schools."

Charlton acknowledged the number of charges laid through Project Scholar
was small and that it would be naive to say that's the extent of the people
involved with drugs in Saanich schools. However, he said police will be
undertaking another targeted enforcement project of this type in the near
future.