Sniffy evidence

According to Dr Anthony Seldon, the head of Wellington College:

The government should pay for sniffer dogs to search schools, in an attempt to stamp out drugs misuse among pupils

Indeed, Dr Seldon is so keen on the idea that he pays a private company to sniff over his pupils every term.

Apart from the fact that some children are terrified of dogs, while others may regard them as unclean, there’s a further problem. The idea that sniffer dogs are infallible is a myth. An article in the Register pointed out last year:

The only empirical research into the public deployment of drug dogs was conducted in New South Wales, Australia, and revealed that over a 12 month period 73 per cent of people searched as a result of dog indications had no drugs about their person.

It’s worth reading the whole thing.