Pubdate: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Sudbury Star Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608 Author: Mark Mancini Note: Mark Mancini is a director on the Conservative Party of Canada Sudbury Electoral District Association. He is a student at Lockerby Composite School. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) SCHOOLS MORE VULNERABLE TO DRUGS Supreme Court Rulings Ends Random Searches Over the last while, it has been widely accepted by society that a mainstay of the high school system was random drug dog searches. It used to be a routine event that a class would be interrupted by a drug dog search, complete with the dogs sniffing every single classroom member. Sometimes, drugs were found, other times, they weren't. But a recent decision by the Supreme Court regarding drug dogs will practically end the ability of police to do random searches. The question is: what ramifications will this have in the upcoming school year? How are regular students, like me for example, at risk? It is clear that drugs will now be at the disposal of kids in our schools, with very little standing in their way. This decision was borne out of, primarily, a random drug dog search in a school in the Toronto area. In one student's bag, marijuana and other drug paraphernalia were found. The student challenged the search based on his privacy rights, and the Supreme Court decided in his favour. This brings us to the first main issue: the fact that the threat of drugs are real in our schools. There are real students doing real drugs, and often, schools are powerless to stop them. Drugs are easily concealable and can often bypass many human senses. They present a real and tangible danger to the fabric of the learning environment. Not to mention, drugs bring otherwise innocent kids into a dark world of detachment from family and friends. Our schools should primarily be responsible for ensuring they are working in tandem with police to stop drugs. The danger of drugs is well known, but the drug users of our schools must be laughing right now. The Supreme Court's decision provides them with a beautiful path to use and even traffic drugs in school. They are exploiting the absolute necessity and beauty of our privacy rights in Canada to carry out their trade. We are so very lucky in Canada to have certain privacy rights and human rights. There are some people on Earth who would fight wars for these rights. But rights also come with responsibilities. Responsibilities include having to follow the laws of the land, as well as ensuring that you do not infringe on the rights of others. By bringing drugs to school, you are breaking laws and infringing on the right of every Canadian student to have a safe education. This is a sad thing: when the beauty of our rights are exploited to serve criminal purposes. With that said, the upcoming school year will be the first full year with this new mandate of reduced or no drug dog searches. As a student, I believe you will see more drugs in our schools. Drug dogs and police will no longer be able to stop the constant flow of these materials in school. It will be difficult for school administration to co-ordinate evidence against certain individuals for possessing drugs. Students will be at risk from these people who do drugs. Make no mistake, they are in our schools, and they are here to stay because of this ruling. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake