sweetpea
04-29-2004, 11:39 AM
From: "MSU NORML" <msunorml@excite.com>
Date: 15 Apr 2004 21:11:05 -0000
Subject: High School Arrests Spark National Student Outrage
Washington, DC - Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.orgcondemns the arrest of 11 students connected with an undercover investigation at Flathead High School in Montana. Police arrested the students for selling marijuana at school. According to the Missoulian, authorities assigned an undercover officer to the high school after school officials called police because they suspected students were selling drugs.
"The school officials should have called the studentsı parents, not the police." says SSDP National Director Scarlett Swerdlow. "Rehabilitation and education are the most effective means to stop young people from using drugs. Spending time in jail will not help these students."
Data from the Department of Corrections show that one-fourth of those
incarcerated for a non-violent crime are imprisoned a second time for
committing a violent offense.
"If school administrators feel the need to place undercover officers in our schools, it is obvious that zero tolerance polices have failed", says James Weleber, President of the SSDP chapter at Montana State University: Bozeman. "Zero tolerance polices are nothing more than a pipeline to prison."
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a national organization with more than 200 college and high school chapters, is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nationıs drug problems.
Interviews are available. For more information, contact James Weleber at (406) 585-0026 or Melissa Milam at (202) 415-4414.
Date: 15 Apr 2004 21:11:05 -0000
Subject: High School Arrests Spark National Student Outrage
Washington, DC - Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.orgcondemns the arrest of 11 students connected with an undercover investigation at Flathead High School in Montana. Police arrested the students for selling marijuana at school. According to the Missoulian, authorities assigned an undercover officer to the high school after school officials called police because they suspected students were selling drugs.
"The school officials should have called the studentsı parents, not the police." says SSDP National Director Scarlett Swerdlow. "Rehabilitation and education are the most effective means to stop young people from using drugs. Spending time in jail will not help these students."
Data from the Department of Corrections show that one-fourth of those
incarcerated for a non-violent crime are imprisoned a second time for
committing a violent offense.
"If school administrators feel the need to place undercover officers in our schools, it is obvious that zero tolerance polices have failed", says James Weleber, President of the SSDP chapter at Montana State University: Bozeman. "Zero tolerance polices are nothing more than a pipeline to prison."
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a national organization with more than 200 college and high school chapters, is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nationıs drug problems.
Interviews are available. For more information, contact James Weleber at (406) 585-0026 or Melissa Milam at (202) 415-4414.