Crime at SLVHS: Influences of the Valley
In our school here in the green San Lorenzo Valley, you wouldnÕt expect much crime for a small mountainous area in California. But like any place in the world, there is crime. The largest problem in our valleyÕs high school is a serious crime-the use, possession and growing of an illegal drug-Marijuana.
In our high school, Marijuana is such a large problem due to the location of its facilities. The high school campus is in the middle of the San Lorenzo Valley, which is fertile and has the perfect conditions for growing pot. People in our area live in the outskirts of the existing towns that lie on the twisted route known as highway 9. These outskirts, otherwise known as the "boonies," are perfect growing areas away from cop intervention for the population to grow their "green bud" in peace. It is not uncommon to see pot plants growing in peopleÕs backyards in the valley. Coincidentally, large populations of the residents in the San Lorenzo Valley that grow marijuana or use it, also have children that attend our district high school located in Felton.
The economic view on crime in this instance is simple- better enforcement and harsher punishments. If the administration pushed a little bit harder and clearly stated the punishments I think that their point would be more useful. I believe if the administration would make an example out of those people who are caught, people who are their friends and also use such illegal drugs as marijuana might get the picture. I also think that if the administration was to bust people at our school when they are smoking it they might stop some of the crime from happening. There was a particular instance in which this situation was demonstrated. Last week we had 12 undercover cops at our school in the hopes to catch some of the drug users at our school. From people who were there and witnessed this event, they stated that there were students ob...