Pubdate: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 Source: Observer-Reporter (PA) Copyright: 2007 The Observer Publishing Co Contact: http://www.observer-reporter.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1264 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) SCHOOL DRUG DOG IS A GOOD MOVE We have opposed mandatory drug testing in schools because they are intrusive and presume students to be guilty until they demonstrate otherwise. The argument about requiring people to prove their innocence was made last week in opposing the use of a drug-sniffing dog in the Peters Township schools, but we don't believe it applies. As we understand it, the dog would simply stroll through the school and react if it catches the scent of drugs. Even if it gets a positive whiff, it doesn't attack anyone, it simply lies down. We would certainly have a problem with random searches of students' persons. But the dog does not search, it simply sniffs. If it detects the presence of drugs in a locker, we should remember that the courts have held that school lockers are the property of the school, not of individual students, and there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in regard to what is stored there. The dog is pricey - for the $14,000 cost they could have sent the pooch to a state university for two years - but we recognize that this isn't a job that an ordinary mutt from the Humane Society could do. If it can drive drugs out of the schools without compromising the students' rights, the dog is probably worth it. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek