DRUGS FOUND AT HIGH SCHOOL

RCMP In Port Mcneill And Port Hardy Continue To Crack Down On Drugs,
Specifically Marijuana.

One charge of marijuana possession is pending after Port McNeill RCMP
searched North Island Secondary School several times recently at the
school's request, says Sgt. Chris Stewart. He says RCMP seized small
amounts of marijuana in student's possession.

NISS acting principal Dave Searcy can't say whether students are using
drugs more than in the past, or that school officials are being more
vigilant than normal.

"We're always concerned about anything like drugs or alcohol and the effect
they have on our young people," he notes.

Searcy estimates the school has about twice as many drug-related
suspensions so far this school year compared to the same period of 2001,
when NISS suspended four or five students for drugs. More than 500 students
attend the Port McNeill school, which covers Alert Bay, Sointula, Port
Alice and Woss. Searcy feels drug users at the school are being more
obvious. It's not difficult to catch marijuana users, he says, due to its
overpowering odor. "You come in with something like marijuana, you're going
to get caught," Searcy states.

Locker inspections, he maintains, remain part of school policy. Students
concerned about drug use are one of the school's best sources of
information, Searcy says.

NISS officials are concerned not only with students possessing and using
drugs, but their source.

Searcy insists that NISS remains a good place for kids to go. "If I was a
parent, would I want my child to go to NISS, you bet."

Port Hardy RCMP simultaneously raided two Coal Harbour homes early Friday
evening, seizing marijuana and property related to other offences, Cpl.
Tony Dohlan says in a news release.

Four adults were arrested and later released. RCMP continue to investigate.
"This case is part of ongoing police efforts to curb the supply of illicit
marijuana to the residents of the Port Hardy and Coal Harbour area," Dohlan
states.