Maryland’s attorney general is defending Loyola Blakefield for apparently not reporting confiscated drugs to police, saying no law requires one citizen to turn in another.

Joseph Curran — a Loyola alumnus himself — said that if the school found a student with drugs, administrators could follow their own policies for discipline, even if they did not involve calling police.

“There’s no requirement in the law for a teacher in a private high school to report if they find drugs on a particular youngster,” said Curran, who is not running for re-election. When asked if police should be involved in disciplining cases of possession, he said, “that might be a pretty big burden to put on such a young person.”

State law requires schools to contact police only in cases of abuse, Curran said. The law only requires that each school have a stated policy on how it will handle drug violations.

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Loyola’s student handbook states that drugs, alcohol or paraphernalia are forbidden, and that students in violation are “subject to disciplinary action by the school … and to the laws of the State of Maryland.”

Michael Gimbel, the former head of Baltimore County’s Office of Substance Abuse, said schools take on a heavy burden when judging the severity of a case without police assistance.

“If you’re talking about a carload, that would be one thing; if you’re talking about a small quantity, the school may think the best course is to call the student’s parents,” Curran said. “If [the school has] a strong policy, then the parents and students should know what to expect.”

Parents of current and former Loyola students have raised concerns about how the school handles drug violations, including a recent incident in which drugs were found in a student’s locker. Opinions are split over whether police should be involved — some felt expulsion was more “humane” than charging students, while others said students would rather go through school- or state-mandated probation and counseling than leave their school community.

“The school did what the school said it would do,” said Kathryn McNeal, the mother of a 1990 graduate. “Police involvement sends a message to some, but not all. Look at the number of DUIs some teenagers get. … They just shrug it off.”

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com