Pubdate: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 Source: Surrey Now (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462 Author: Marisa Babic Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUG PROBLEM AT DELTA SCHOOL 'MINOR' Drug dogs recently searched a North Delta high school and sniffed out three dime bags of dope. But despite the bust, Delta school officials say they have no plans to introduce an official drug dog policy similar to the one being contemplated by Surrey school trustees. "Thankfully, the incidents, to the best of my knowledge, have been infrequent to the point that it hasn't warranted an official policy," Delta school board chairwoman Janet Shauntz said Thursday. Shauntz noted she doesn't even know how many times police were called to Delta high schools this year when principals have suspected that students were stashing drugs in their lockers "so that speaks to the infrequency of it or it would have been brought to the board as an issue." David Fisher, principal of Seaquam secondary school, confirmed that officers and a pair of police dogs trained in detecting narcotics searched lockers at his school in late January. The search yielded three bags of marijuana worth $10 apiece. Fisher denies the search was done in response to suspicions about a particular student or students. "There was nothing specific," he said. Fisher said the search was conducted partly as a training exercise for the canine team and as a lesson for students. "What we're trying to do is get the message out that school is not a place for drugs," he said. Fisher said the student caught with the pot was moved to another Delta high school after a meeting with his parents. Still, Fisher noted that punishment for possession of small amounts of drugs isn't the key issue and if the teen behaves, he may get to come back to Seaquam. "The person admitted he was selling drugs," he said. "We're looking at redemption. His parents were very supportive and he's not a problem academically." Fisher agrees with Shauntz that the current method of dealing with drugs in schools - calling in a police at the discretion of the principal rather than imposing an official, formal policy - is adequate. "It might work in Surrey but I wouldn't like to see it in Delta," he said of Surrey's proposal. Fisher characterized the drug problem at Seaquam as minor. "At Seaquam, we have a very, very minor drug situation. I think there are drugs available at any B.C. school but for us it's not a major issue." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin