Case #5.06: "Just Say No High"

Two girls arrive at what looks remarkably like Turkey Point Swim Club from Cry-Baby. A rave seems to be in progress in that there are kids dancing around with glow sticks. My rave suspicions are confirmed when the girls buy ecstacy from another partygoer. The brunette pops the ecstacy. Before her blond companion can do the same, the drug dealer collapses on a picnic table. The brunette screams. Theme song.

Outside a high school, a male student hosts a JUST SAY NO rally. Free JUST SAY NO T-shirts are passed out. The students urges his classmates to vote yes to a drug testing policy at school. Judy meets up with Doug who's posing as the assistant basketball coach; she doesn't think drug testing will stop kids from getting high and she's right. My high school drug tested athletes and that didn't stop most of the football players in my senior class from taking steroids.

The principal announces over the loudspeakers that the universal drug testing policy passed the vote by a wide margin. Any student who tests positive won't be able to participate in extracurriculars and will have to attend drug counseling. In my experience, the kids doing drugs at school weren't usually involved in any kind of after-school stuff anyway. And drug testing works so well for people who are on probation...

After basketball practice, Coach calls the team into a huddle. The team is a few weeks away from winning the state title. Coach advises the boys to drink a lot of water before their drug tests and to use the bathroom before they come to school on test day. One of the players, Godwin, refuses to take the test. The head of JUST SAY NO tells Godwin he has to be a team player and that means taking the test. Godwin storms out.

Doug tells Coach he gave the boys some interesting advice. He hopes Godwin changes his mind about taking the drug test. Coach does too; Godwin is apparently Roosevelt's only hope of taking home the state title.

A girl asks Judy if she knows how long ecstacy stays in your system so she can beat the drug test. The girl doesn't know if there will be another rave because the police have been questioning everyone who was at the last rave. She gives Judy an address to send money to; with any luck, Judy will be invited to the next rave. I thought she just said there might not be another? Oh, forget it.

When Judy reports to the girls' bathroom for her own drug test, she's disturbed that the school nurse opens the stall door and insists on watching the, er, sample collection. A few days later, students who passed the drug test receive red armbands and the names of people who tested positive. The drug-free students are supposed to mentor the students on the list. Ecstacy girl tested clean, but Judy didn't. Uh-oh....

In Cap'n Rufus's office, Judy can't believe she tested positive for amphetamines. Rufus is confident it was just a lab error; however, he still has to suspend Judy until she tests negative. The sooner she goes to the hospital to undergo further drug testing, the better. "Why don't you just get out the cuffs?" Judy asks angrily, but agrees to get tested. Rufus tells her to brief McCann, who will be taking over her case. He also needs her badge and gun. "The truth will out," Rufus reassures her.

At basketball practice, nobody will pass to Godwin. Just Say No Boy pressures Godwin to take the test. Godwin leaves practice again. Doug follows him. Godwin protests the new policy: "I don't drive a bus, I don't fly a plane. I just want to play ball." 

McCann briefs Cap'n Rufus on what he knows. The address Judy was given is a PO Box registered to Party Dude Industries. According to the nightwatchman, a tall kid in a Roosevelt High jacket came by two weeks ago and emptied the box. They suspect it could've been the dead drug dealer, Godwin, or Jeff from JUST SAY NO. Apparently, Jeff is also good at chemistry, knowledge you need to cook ecstacy. Cap'n Rufus thinks it's like suspecting Nancy Reagan. McCann reminds him that Darth Vader turned out to be Luke's father.

Judy and Doug meet in Roosevelt's otherwise deserted gym. Doug suggests she hang around the Chapel even though she's suspended. At a clinic the next day, Judy learns there's only one test that can prove the one she received at Roosevelt wrong: a hair sample. The catch is Judy would have to pay for the test out of pocket because it's expensive. Judy agrees, desperate to clear her name.

While taking Doug's advice, Judy is introduced to Inspector Nickerson from Internal Affairs. He wants to talk to Judy about her file. He also heavily implies that Judy's been skimming drugs from her suspects. He outright accuses her of stealing from a dead drug dealer in January.

At the Chapel, Judy is frantic because she can't find her report on the drug bust in question. Doug calms her down. Back at Roosevelt, Godwin agrees to take the drug test. McCann meets up with Jeff in the chemistry lab. Jeff claims he stays after school a lot because he needs a 4.0 to get into MIT; he wants to be a chemical engineer. He informs McCann that you don't need a lot of chemistry skills to make ecstacy; he could whip up a batch right there. "Of course, I would never be slimy enough to do it," adds Jeff.

Leaving school, Jeff and McCann see Godwin acting erratically on the outdoor basketball court. Hmm, wonder what that's about? Jeff speculates that Godwin might even be dealing. Godwin calls Jeff a Nazi.

McCann tells Doug and the other coach about what he saw on the basketball court. Doug tells Coach that the ecstacy was homemade and asks if there's any reason why Godwin would refuse the drug test. Coach can't think of one. When the principal searches Godwin's locker, he finds one of the chemicals needed to make ecstacy. Jeff accuses Godwin of making the bad batch.

Doug and McCann tell Cap'n Rufus they think that Godwin was framed. The kid wouldn't be dumb enough to draw suspicion to himself by refusing the drug test. McCann suggests Jeff could've planted the chemical; Rufus tells Doug to visit Godwin as a concerned coach and see what he can learn. Judy races into the office, cheering that her drug test was negative. Fuller welcomes her back.

In jail, Godwin insists he's not a junkie; he's an epileptic. Yesterday's incident was due to the side effects of his anti-seizure medicine phenobarbitol. Its metabolites can come up as heroin. Coach knows about Godwin's epilepsy and why he refused the drug test. Doug immediately suspects that Coach is the dealer and wanted Godwin to take the fall.

Doug, Judy, and McCann stake out the PO Box rented by Party Dude. The runner turns out to be, not a basketball player, but a girl named Jeanine. Judy and Doug follow Jeanine's car to the RV that Coach is using to cook ecstacy. They arrest Jeanine. Doug just barely stops Coach from destroying the evidence by lighting the RV on fire.

At basketball practice, Jeff apologizes to Godwin for suspecting him of using drugs. End of episode.

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