Pubdate: Fri, 13 May 2005 Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ) Copyright: 2005 East Valley Tribune. Contact: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2708 Author: Paul Giblin, Tribune Columnist Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUG DOGS IN SCHOOLS JUST ANOTHER STUNT It's been nine months since Sheriff Joe Arpaio proclaimed his office had busted a heroin ring operating within the Scottsdale school district. It's been two months since details of the so-called investigation became public, and the entire episode appears to have dissolved into just another of Arpaio's publicity stunts. However, convincing evidence suggests the sheriff actually might be onto something here. The evidence: The majority of the Scottsdale Unified School District governing board members listened to Arpaio's hype and voted Tuesday to allow drug-sniffing dogs to patrol high schools in the fall. No clear-minded person could have made that decision. They must have been on something. Board member Molly Holzer said, "I'm excited to try this because it does send a strong message." Oh, it sends a strong message all right. It sends a message that we should forget about putting drug-sniffing dogs in schools. We should put them where they're needed. We should put them in the board room. Outside of the board room, there's a complete lack of probable cause that would justify such an intrusion of students' civil liberties. Here's a quick recap of Arpaio's purported heroin investigation: Detectives turned up 164 "investigative leads." Many of the leads were so flimsy Arpaio couldn't determine people's complete names or what drugs they might have used. Nonetheless, among all the leads, 35 were believed to be Scottsdale students. Of those, three were believed to have used heroin. That's not exactly an epidemic considering Scottsdale's five high schools have a total of 8,300 students. To be precise, Arpaio's high-profile investigation exposed 0.04 percent of the student body as heroin users -- if Arpaio's numbers are to be believed at all. In contrast, 1.7 percent of 12th-graders nationwide are thought to have used heroin at least once in their lives, according to a 2002 study by the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy. By those measures, Scottsdale schools are remarkably heroin free. Those details were lost on four of the five school board members though. They gleefully signed into The Cult of Arpaio, a collection of dupes who are convinced his stunts serve any other purpose than to feed his own addiction to attention. Board member Eric Meyer cast the lone dissenting vote, because he didn't see the measure as a deterrent. He grasped the idea that drug users can stash their dope in their cars rather than in their school lockers, making dog patrols useless. Membership in The Cult of Arpaio doesn't require any clear thinking, though. Simply believe the hype. Bring on the dogs. Bring on the TV cameras. Bring on the headlines. - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFLorida)