Pubdate: Wed, 25 Oct 2006
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Jorge Barrera, Ottawa Sun

MAYOR TARGETS 'HIGH' SCHOOLS

Wants More Cops in Schools to Weed Out 'Rampant' Pot
Use

Mayor Bob Chiarelli says there's a drug epidemic in city schools and 
he wants more cops policing pushers and stoned students.

Up to 60% of Ottawa students are getting high on pot during the 
school day, Chiarelli said yesterday as he unveiled a plan designed 
to attack drug pushers in the hallways and playgrounds.

"There is a rampant problem of drugs in our schools," said Chiarelli, 
who has been badly trailing mayoral candidates Larry O'Brien and 
frontrunner Alex Munter in the polls.

Chiarelli promised to ask the Ottawa Police Services Board to deploy 
13 more officers to act as school resource officers. This would 
increase the ratio of officers in schools to one for every 10 
schools, up from one for every 15 schools.

The mayor said the additional officers would come from the 180 new 
police hires expected over the next two years.

'HAVEN FOR DRUGS?

Chiarelli said principals and vice-principals have told him that 
40-60% of the student body could be smoking pot in the course of the 
school day.

The mayor said he was told by a vice-principal at a Barrhaven school 
that 45-55% of students were "doing drugs every day."

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee David Moen said 
district staff have never mentioned anything about a drug epidemic in 
the city's schools.

"It is news to me that students are using that rate during the school 
day," said Moen, trustee for Innes, Beacon Hill-Cyrville.

"We are always concerned by inappropriate drug use, but we have no 
information that there is a massive use rate."

The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board refused to comment. Calls 
to the Catholic school board chair were not returned.

When pressed on his pot-smoking data, Chiarelli referred reporters to 
background documents. The documents make no mention of school-based 
drug use in Ottawa. Documents did cite Statistics Canada data that 
said the rate of youth drug offences had dropped over the past three 
years, including a 12% decrease last year for pot-related offenses.

OFFENCES UP

StatsCan did find that offences related to harder drugs had 
increased. Health Canada data said that one-third of youth aged 15-24 
had used pot at some point in their lives.

Ottawa police data showed a 2% increase in drug-related calls last year.
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