yesterday called on Government to bring drug dogs into local schools to help sniff out the drug problem.

In the House of Assembly, Mr. Burgess said that the Minister of Education was ?unwilling? to bring drug sniffing dogs into the schools.

?We need to use every vehicle at our disposal to find drugs,? he argued.

And he asked Government to consider repealing their position on bringing drug dogs into the schools.

?We ought to get out an early message that we have zero tolerance on drugs,? he said.

Mr. Burgess then touched on the recent fights at CedarBridge Academy and said that some people denied them and denied being injured in the fights.

He told the House that he was advised that a ?senior member of staff? suffered injuries directly related to the incident at CedarBridge.

?As sure as God made little green apples ? there were teachers injured at CedarBridge,? he said.

Mr. Burgess called for a board of inquiry into the incident because he questioned the actions of senior members of staff trying to keep the fight a secret.

?If we are suffering from amnesia at that level, what are we teaching our children ? fear of appraisal??

Mr. Burgess asked the Minister of Education to ?squeeze? more into the matter. said that parents were in denial most of the time about their children?s drug use.

Regarding the suggestion of bringing drug sniffing dogs into schools, Ms Butterfield said: ?We have to look at it in a different way ? it is a disease and we need to work with it.?

She pointed out that there were resources available to help children and applauded the work of principals and teachers.

Several Opposition members called for the use of drug dogs in schools to deter any students using or dealing drugs and to send the message to parents that the school and the community have zero tolerance when it comes to using drugs.

In a heated Motion to Adjourn session, Opposition members raised questions about everything from drug dogs in schools to the dynamics of the public and the dynamics of the private school system.

But said the issue was becoming politicised and that there are already methods in place to deal with students who use or deal drugs on school property, in the form of a Code of Conduct which addresses the issue and provides remedies for students and teachers to work with.

After being questioned by members of the Opposition, Mr. Lister spoke about a fight at the school between a student and a teacher and stated that the incident, where a teacher was knocked down by a student more than a week ago after asking the student to leave the class, had resulted in staff expressing fear and outrage. Mr. Lister said teachers appealed to the Ministry to deal with the situation.

In situations of drug use, or in situations of abuse against children, Mr. Lister said the public system had to hold onto students and not use the expulsion policy used by private schools if a student has violated a school regulation.

Mr. Lister said rather than using drug dogs to help deal with the problem, the best way to address it was to use life skill programmes at the schools to prevent drug use.

?The key is believing our children can use drug rehabilitation programmes to their benefit. We can not afford the people of Bermuda to fall through the cracks,? said Mr. Lister.

During the heated debate, Opposition members stuck to their position that if drug dogs would help get rid of at least one bag of drugs which may be floating around either private or public schools on the Island, it would be worthwhile.said Mr. Burgess had committed to sending a strong message by using drug dogs in the Prisons. ?He set out and said here is an opportunity to detect drug use and to send a message that the Government was committed to doing something about it.?

He said the school principal of MSA and the parents and students of the school could see the zero tolerance policy for drugs by use of a drugs dog.

?This issue goes beyond the issue of preserving the image of private and public schools, we?re not denigrating any school by standing up here and saying that we?ve got to go to the next step and do something about this. said the debate should not be focused on one particular school ? the issue is deciding how to get to the root of the drug problem. ?The message is being sent that this could be one or two less bags that go to students so, what is wrong with it?

?Any drugs that are out of the students? hands have got to be positive.? said the proposal was ?foreign? to the landscape of Bermuda and not an available remedy to employ in Bermuda since it was reactionary and based on the one situation which arose in a private school.

?This is a knee-jerk reaction based on one situation in a private school and is not prudent, the debate needs to be brought into perspective.? responded by stating that one less bag in the hands of our children, which we as a community consider precious, is the way to go about fighting the war on drugs.

?That?s one spliff out of someone?s mouth,? he said, adding the UBP supported drug testing and would demonstrate the zero tolerance to drugs by getting drug tested. ?There?s no need to prove yourself but the doubters in the community may want you to prove it to them. We, as a community, have to stand up and say enough is enough and, in the UBP, we use everything we can to fight drugs in the community. We will stand up and do our best to make sure every day is better than it is today.?said the notion of drug sniffing dogs in schools was punitive and old fashioned. He suggested the way to go was to educate and rehabilitate students instead of resorting to ?punitive ideas from the past?.

Bringing in drug dogs, according to Mr. DeVent would start a snowball effect, possibly leading to strip searches and other methods which do not deal with the issue of why young people turn to drugs in the first place.

?This is a knee-jerk reaction. The best way to deal with drugs is through education first. The first way to do this is to educate young people ? not by taking dogs into schools. How do we know how the majority of parents will deal with this issue? We have to educate young people and show them an alternative. We have to show them there is someone who has an interest in them and has a concern about their welfare.? said using drug dogs would not instil a sense of fear in students but rather show them the school was committed to ensure their safety. She said all legislators were voted in by the community with the aim that they set laws to protect the welfare and safety of the children and young people. Legislation should demonstrate the seriousness of this responsibility.

But called on the Opposition to focus on more positive issues with relation to the Island?s young people.

She said the majority of students are not doing drugs but are doing positive things.