Schools in Billerica, Massachusetts, may soon have some new faces roaming the halls. The School Committee is considering whether to allow drug-sniffing dogs to search the schools.

The searches would be random and unannounced. The dogs, which are trained to sniff out marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, would be able to search all school property, including lockers, classrooms, parking lots, and storage areas.

Police Chief Dan Rosa said that he believes the step is necessary for improving school safety. The move toward drug-sniffing dogs was prompted, in part, by a recent survey of more than 2,000 students which found that marijuana use among the city's students was 111 percent higher than the national average. Source: The Lowell Sun

Labels: safety, drug-sniffing dogs, high_school

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Anthony Coulson, assistant special agent in charge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in Tucson, Arizona says the DEA has already surpassed last year's numbers for the amount of drugs seized at the border between the United States and Mexico.

"According to US Customs and Border Protection figures, which include only amounts that CBP agents seize, 1.7 million pounds of marijuana were seized along with US border with Mexico so far this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30... The previous record, for all of fiscal 2006, was about 1.3 million pounds."

The increased amount may be the result of improved boarder security or an increase in the amount being shipped from Mexico. An increase in the number of boarder agents, use of X-ray machines, sensors, and canine units are all believed to have contributed to more seizures.

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Labels: drug-sniffing dogs, drug_trafficking, criminal_justice

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The Desert Sands Unified School District board, located in the Palm Springs area of Southern California, will soon be voting on whether or not they will allow drug-sniffing dogs in local middle and high schools. Administrators, teachers, and parents are battling a rise of reported incidents of student drug possessions.

Proponents of the idea say using drug-sniffing dogs "gives parents, teachers and law enforcement officers another opportunity to nip drug use in the bud - while kids are still young and somewhat impressionable."

Many schools across the nation already use drug-sniffing dogs with much success. Administrators of districts already using dogs as deterrents agree that their schools face less drug problems. They say that drug-sniffing dogs are one of the most effective ways to keep drugs off school campuses. Read more from the Desert Sun.

Labels: schools, drug-sniffing dogs

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