Editor, Townsman: On the Andover High School drug inspection: Fifteen canine units, accompanied by police in riot gear walking through the school when classes were in session with bolt cutters, searching students, lockers and cars, represent a use of police power entirely out of proportion to the problem, as the results of the raid document. The students will be more predisposed to view the police as adversaries, and drug users as victims of arbitrary police power rather than people guilty of crimes and in need of help. The tension between the view of addiction as a disease, or a symptom, warranting empathy and treatment, and drug possession as a crime warranting punishment is thereby pulled in the latter direction, one that to me seems counterproductive in actually dealing with what drug problems we have. Police functioning in an aggressive, invasive and paramilitary manner are more alienated from the community they serve, will receive less information from it, and will, in the end, be less, rather than more, effective in doing their job. [continues 111 words]
Police should enforce the law and keep drugs away from the schools where students and their parents have a right to expect a safe and drug-free setting. Schools and their principal should enforce discipline, but also provide a positive, supportive environment. They should be cheerleaders for students and all they accomplish. That combination of "tough love" appears to be taking place at Andover High School. As most people in town know, Andover High Principal Peter Anderson and Police Chief Brian Pattullo decided to hold a surprise drug search of the school last Friday, Oct. 24. The search was no small matter, involving 15 drug-sniffing dogs and officers from a variety of Massachusetts police departments. It led to only one arrest, from marijuana found in a student's car parked in a school lot. [continues 391 words]
Targeting Drugs And Rumors: Surveys Show Low Use Compared To Other Schools, But 15 Police Dogs Conduct Drug Search Police officers with 15 drug-sniffing dogs searched Andover High School Friday morning, Oct. 24, as part of a surprise exercise that Principal Peter Anderson says was meant to stop rumors there is a drug problem at the school. But that doesn't mean police are finished arresting students they believe are using or sharing drugs on school property. On Monday, Oct. 27 - the first school day after the huge drug sweep - an officer believed he saw an exchange made during lunchtime in the Andover High School parking lot that resulted in an arrest and charge of marijuana possession for a 16-year-old student. [continues 994 words]
Senior Jason Crabb is unfazed when he hears that, according to a survey, 43 percent of Andover High students smoke marijuana. He can even point out where some students smoke it during school hours. "That's the big hang-out," he says, pointing to the woods behind the AHS tennis courts. It's less than a two-minute walk from the school's front doors - an easy escape for kids looking to dodge a class or two, smoke pot and return unnoticed, he adds. [continues 1371 words]
