Jenny McWhirter, head of education at DrugScope, said she was concerned that lack of regulation meant companies motiv-ated by profit were less likely to look at the community or scale of the problem than the police.
John Franklin-Webb, director of Grosvenor International Services, a private firm that provides search dogs and handlers to 14 schools, said he would welcome the introduction of regulations as standards were largely left to contractors to decide.
He said: "There are few firms operating at the moment, but the market looks set to grow. Regulations would be welcome."
Grosvenor's programmes are run by Home Office-inspected instructors.
A DrugScope investigation found dogs are regularly being used in more than 100 English schools. Most are police dogs.
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