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Drugs found in school sweep

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Less than two weeks into the 2005-06 school year, drugs have been confiscated at a county high school.

A drug-sniffing police dog found pot in a 16-year-old Fayette County High School student’s car during a search Tuesday.

However, no criminal charges will be filed. Fayetteville Police Department turned the matter over to school officials who will decide what to do about the situation, police said.

According to a Fayetteville police report, police responded to Fayette County High on Tiger Trail about 2 p.m. K-9 Officer Kenzie was deployed and alerted on the vehicle.

“A small amount of marijuana was located,” according to police.

Those found with a small amount of marijuana are subject to misdemeanor marijuana charges.

FPD spokesman Detective Steve Crawshaw said he believed no arrest was made because the student was a juvenile and could better be addressed by school officials.

“The officers have judgment and it says a small amount,” Crawshaw said Friday reading from the incident report. “They don’t always have to make an arrest. For whatever reason, they felt this was the best way to handle this.”

The incident comes six days after Fayette County schools opened its doors to students for the first time this fall. Crawshaw said he wasn’t shocked by the incident.

“You always have some drugs in school,” said Crawshaw, a former DEA agent. “When I went to school, there were drugs in the school. It’s not a shock that it’s there.”

Fayette County Drug Suppression Task Force officials contend drugs are a problem all over the county, including schools.

"It’s in Starr’s Mill, Sandy Creek, McIntosh,” Capt. Mike Pruitt said during an earlier interview about the lack of manpower needed to fight the growing drug problem in Fayette County.

However, a request for two additional drug agents was shot down by the Fayette County Commission.

Anytime there are drugs in the schools it’s a problem because drugs are a distraction, Crawshaw indicated.

“It just depends on who you talk to, how big the problem is,” Crawshaw said.