Pubdate: Sun, 11 Mar 2007
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2007 El Paso Times
Contact:  http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

COCAINE FOUND ON LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

The discovery of a student with cocaine at Ysleta High  School 
earlier this year is part of ongoing concerns  over drugs in El Paso schools.

Cocaine is far less common than marijuana, but the  powerful 
stimulant has been discovered on campuses at  least a dozen times 
this academic year, school district  officials said.

"The districts don't have a drug problem. The drug  problem is a 
community problem," said Victor Araiza,  interim chief for the El 
Paso Independent School  District Police Department.

EPISD has had five cocaine cases this year and the  Socorro 
Independent School District has had six,  officials said. Figures 
weren't available for the  Ysleta Independent School District.

In January, an El Paso police officer assigned to  Ysleta High School 
arrested an 18-year-old student on  campus with less than a gram of 
cocaine, what's  considered a personal-use amount, police spokesman 
Javier Sambrano said.

In December, a 17-year-old woman was caught with 36  plastic baggies, 
or 13 grams, of cocaine at the El Paso  Job Corps Center campus.

In March 2006, 12 seventh-grade students allegedly had  cocaine at 
Garcia-Enriquez Middle School in San  Elizario.

Despite those examples, El Paso police and juvenile  court 
prosecutors said they had seen neither an  increase nor a decrease in 
cocaine use among teens.

The national 2006 Monitoring the Future survey found  that 8.5 
percent of 12th-graders reported using cocaine  in their lifetime, 
the Office of National Drug Control  Policy stated.

Powdered cocaine was "fairly easy" or "very easy" to  obtain, 42.5 
percent of high school seniors responded.

El Paso, Socorro and Ysleta district officials said  they try to be 
proactive with police officers assigned  to each high school, using 
drug-sniffing dogs and  offering anti-drug education.

Criminal charges are also increased if illegal drugs  are found on 
campus or other designated drug-free  zones.

"I think it's a sign of the times," said Chief Michael  Czerwinsky of 
the Socorro Independent School District  Police Department. "For us, 
one case is one too many."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman