Sniffing Out Drugs

A high school in New York is using drug-sniffing dogs to actually deter drug use among its students, according to this NY Times article. Sachem High School North, on Long Island, reports success with its program but other high schools find the presence of drug-sniffing dogs to be "frightening."

Andy Henelin, President of Dogs by Andy, trains some of the dogs that sniff for contraband in high schools hallways. He demonstrates their effectiveness by "planting" a synthetic bag of cocaine inside a student's backpack and letting the dog find it. "We want the students to know that if they go up against the dogs, they lose," he explained.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union sees it differently. She finds the presence of drug-sniffing dogs in high schools to be "incompatible with nurturing environments that are supposed to be conducive to adolescent education."

You can't argue with success, however. Since the dogs have sniffed out Sachem High School, no narcotics have been found. Previously, about one student was caught with marijuana every month.

Drug sniffing dogs are increasingly being used in schools in New Jersey and Connecticut, where the success rate is also impressive. While no dog is 100% effective, the best ones are accurate between 85-90% of the time.

If the goal is to eliminate the presence of drugs in school, drug-sniffing dogs are probably not a bad way to go. The visits are random, they don't interfere with education and the dogs never sniff kids, just lockers, parking lots and other common areas.

If however, the goal is to eliminate the use of drugs by high school students, then the presence of drug-sniffing dogs in schools simply moves these activities to other locations. My experience has always been that the ones who get caught with drugs on campus are actually crying out for help and, on some level, want to be discovered.

What do you think?