DRUG SCARE IN A SMALL TOWN

Residents In Colfax Are Up In Arms Over Rampant Drug Use In School.

One Problem: There's No Evidence The School Even Has A Drug Problem.

Colfax has seen better days. The town was once a haven for coal miners and
international travelers seeking renewal in the town's pristine mineral
springs. These days, there is little entertainment save a bowling alley.
The varsity football season was canceled due to lack of participation. The
addition of a few new antique shops and the revival of the mineral springs
has proved tepid. But in the past year, the town has found a common
rallying point in drug prevention. What was once a oneman police
department has now expanded to four fulltime officers and one parttimer.
The town Substance Abuse Free Environment (SAFE) committee is growing with
each meeting. After the holidays, Colfax may take a big city stance with a
drugsniffing dog operation at the high school.

No evidence In September, Kathleen Goodman, a substitute teacher, and her
husband Don sent a letter to the Jasper County Tribune. The letter, a plea
for the town to unite under God and drugfree living, quoted one teacher
who estimated that 80 percent of the older students used drugs. "80%!" said
the letter. "If this teacher is only half right, we have a monstrous
problem!" The letter, based largely on speculation and rumor, rankled some
and frightened others. November's SAFE meeting produced a crowd of 70. "It
was a huge turnout," says Sue Hagarty, the program's coordinator. "As a
matter of fact, I haven't seen 70 people gather in Colfax for anything
other than church services." But despite the public fretting, the town
seems to agree that school isn't teeming with drugs. Dogs would be merely a
preventative measure. "I don't think one school has any more problems than
any other school. We're just trying to deal with them," says ColfaxMingo
superintendent Bonnie Baum. "The idea is to prevent big problems from
happening."

Hagarty attributes some of the concern to an assessment filled out
anonymously by students, indicating they were using more than just alcohol.
"A handful of them were using in either fifth or sixth grade." And she says
Colfax Chief of Police Bill Spears spoke to the SAFE committee on the
increased number of drugrelated arrests in town. But Spears has no such
statistics to back his view. When asked about the rise in drugrelated
arrests, he says, "that was in general. We didn't have any specific amounts
other than we have 510 arrests per month." Still, Spears says dog searches
of the school are justified. "When 510 arrests are made in a community
this size; that's unheard of in my opinion." Yet he adds, "I don't have any
statistics to compare that with."

Uncomfortable generation Kathleen Gannon, an active ColfaxMingo parent,
doesn't have a problem with drugsniffing dogs at school. "When you don't
have anything to hide," she says, "I don't look at it as my rights being
violated." She theorizes on the reason for the drug paranoia hitting the
town. Generationally, Gannon says, "We're comfortable with [alcohol]
because it was my generation's drug of choice. We're uncomfortable with the
next generation's drug of choice." Bill Reding has been teaching at the
high school since 1972. He doesn't see cause for alarm. "I may be getting
old and naive, but in comparison to what it was in the 70s, it just doesn't
seem near to what we've got today," he says. "Maybe I'm just not looking
for the right signs." "People are just different today than 1025 years
ago," he muses. "Students probably aren't as conscious of their
constitutional rights. It's just reflective of the conservative time we
live in." Reding says the time and money spent on drug dogs may have better
use. "It would be nice to get a few new school buildings."

The hit Spears describes the dog search with the zeal of a smalltown cop
with his first radar gun. "The students will be in the rooms," he assures.
"The teachers will be advised when we do the hit, if we do the hit."

"I guarantee you that the word will spread fast that the dog had been there
and done the search. That's going to deter, hopefully, any student to bring
drugs to school. I'm not looking to throw any kids in jail. That's not my
purpose in this whole thing." "The likelihood of finding anything would be
pretty slim," says Hagarty. "But the message would be pretty clear that the
ColfaxMingo school system is not going to tolerate drug use.

Constitutional Questions

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution protects people against
unreasonable searches and seizures. But the amendment has taken its share
of hits including an ease on restrictions on public school searches. Iowa
recently lifted restrictions requiring 24hour notice before locker
searches. As for Colfax, it's finally getting some attention. On Dec. 22,
Gov. Branstad will spend the day about town. Reason for his visit: to give
the city its SAFE certification and road sign.