SNIFFER DOG FIND GETS BOY BOOTED

OTTAWA -- A 15-year-old boy has been kicked out of school for two days on a
drug dog's say-so.

Christopher Laurin was suspended because an Ottawa police dog indicated it
smelled marijuana on his ski jacket during an surprise lockdown drug search
Tuesday at a high school in suburban Orleans.

Laurin had no drugs on him.

The principal says she could not smell marijuana on Laurin's coat, but the
dog's word proved final.

Police and school staff told the student that police dogs can smell
lingering marijuana residue on clothing up to three months after the fact.

Laurin's parents are furious.

"How come the school is allowed to punish my son because a drug-sniffing
dog smelled marijuana? He didn't have any drugs on his jacket. He didn't do
anything wrong. What if he had left his coat in someone's car, and that
person had a joint?" asked Michel Laurin, Chris's father.

"I know they're trying to do the right thing, but suspension for a coat? he
said. "I don't believe the implications this could have."

His father said the school told him "it's school policy."