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| What do you want your school known for? |
On March 18, three students from New Milford High School were arrested on drug charges and
accused of selling marijuana laced brownies at the school of brownies with
marijuana baked into them, police said. One of the three had prescription
in their locker for sale to others as well. Superintendent of Schools Jean Ann Paddyfote
said three New Milford High School underclassmen were facing expulsion for
violating the school's drug and alcohol policy.
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| Not so funny now, especially if it is your kid or student |
See Something, Hear Something, Say Something: The
school's resource officer conducted an investigation because school authorities
had learned a student was in possession of marijuana brownies and was trying to
sell them to other students. One youth
had originally sold the brownies to a second youth, who brought the brownies
into the school and sold them to a third youth, who in turn planned to sell
them, police said. When the third youth was confronted by school
authorities, prescription drugs were found in his locker, which the youth said
he also had planned to try to sell to fellow students, police said.
The three
male students -- aged 14, 15 and 16 -- are facing criminal charges including
illegal possession of a controlled substance, illegal sale of a controlled
substance, dispensing a narcotic and conspiracy to commit sale
of narcotics. All three were
released into their parents' custody on written promise to appear Tuesday,
March 31 in Danbury Juvenile Court.
Marijuana is
the most commonly used illegal drug in the U.S. and the world, according to
Drug Policy Alliance. There are roughly 750,000 people arrested for marijuana
each year, the vast majority of them for simple possession. Though possession
of marijuana at the age of 18 years and older in small amounts in Connecticut
was decriminalized in 2011, intent to distribute for first-time offenders can
mean up to 7 years of imprisonment, according to NORML.org, and violates New
Milford High School's drug and alcohol policy.
Commentary: When one hears a story like this there is a
tendency to trivialize the event or even view it in a humorous way. However,
these kids were distributing drugs in school to students who were witting or
unwitting and one of them had prescription drugs in his school locker to distribute
to students. Now consider those drugs going to YOUR CHILD, NIECE or NEPHEW, or
GRANDCHILD…doesn’t seem trivial or humorous now. Remember, those kids are
someone else’s child, niece or nephew, or grandchild. I am concerned that the
adults who consider legalizing marijuana have not considered the impact on our
children…
Additionally, those few “pot
brownies” will cause those students to miss a week or two of school awaiting
their expulsion hearing. Missing a week or two
of school will impact their grades for that marking period, GPA, and class
standing. If these kids were on a sports team they will be kicked off of the
team. These students will have a drug record in their file from high school and
a life-long reputation and stigma that is tainted with drugs. Many parents will
tell their kids to not hang out or associate with these kids who were
associated with the pot brownies and prescription drugs. Will the parents just look at this as “kids
will be kids” or will they realize that my kid now has a problem that is drug
related and consider my kid may have a drug problem…or the start of one? How
these parents and the school handles this incident can have a life altering
impact on their future.
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