22 students arrested in drug sting (Sam Spital)

COMMENTARY BY SAM SPITAL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY- SAN DIEGO:

“Fox 5 digital news reported on December 12, 2012 an illegal drug ring was discovered by an undercover drug investigation in which officers posed as students in several high school campuses in the Temecula Valley area of Riverside County, a community adjacent to San Diego. In total there were 22 arrests of which 20 minors were taken to Juvenile Hall and 2 adult students taken into custody were arrested for sales of narcotics and child endangerment. Seized in the sting were cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine (meth), ecstasy, LSD, marijuana and illegal prescription drugs.

It strains credulity that so many of our youth fall into the trap of experimenting with and/or using drugs to feel good. Life has many challenges, but equally true is the fact there are far greater opportunities. However, we have to question whether our schools are providing sufficient information, case studies and material in their curriculum as well as using appropriate resources to build self-esteem, positive values, goals and dreams to motivate students to achieve happiness. Instead, far too many students experiment with drugs in order to get ‘high.’ Substituting artificial, extremely dangerous and addictive drugs only to provide an extremely short lived result can only lead to a trap as in the case of quick sand, offering no long term pleasure, relief &/or remedy while posing the risk of a life time of further complications as well as death. Although so much money is spent to solve social ills and problems, it hardly seems to have had a sufficient impact to reduce the scourge of illegal possession, use and sales of drugs and narcotics.”

–Sam Spital