Three Portland school districts will begin paying students up to $1,000 to snitch on classmates who use marijuana and other drugs at school, the Associated Press reported.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre criticized the proposal. “Paying children $1,000 to become government spies in the war against marijuana users is one of the most Orwellian government excesses I can identify,” he said.
Mayor Vera Katz unveiled the plan, dubbed the Campus Crime Stopper program, two weeks ago. The paid-informant program will operate similar to existing “crime-stopper” hotlines, but will be aimed exclusively toward students who want to call the school police.
Similar programs already operate on school campuses in Charleston, South Carolina and Thousand Oaks, California, the AP story said.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Litigation Director Tanya Kangas of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.