Pubdate: Wed,  1 May 2002
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2002 Associated Press

HOUSE PAGES DISMISSED OVER MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON - Eleven teen-age House pages have been dismissed from the 
program after at least one of them brought marijuana to their Capitol Hill 
dormitory, congressional sources said Wednesday.

None of those involved were identified.

The incident, first reported Wednesday by the online version of the Capitol 
Hill newspaper Roll Call, occurred after a female page who has family in 
the Washington, D.C., invited fellow pages to the residence, where 
marijuana was used and the teen-agers were unsupervised.

That page later brought drugs to the dormitory and was turned in to 
authorities by someone else, said the sources, speaking on condition of 
anonymity. It was unclear if any other disciplinary action would be taken.

"We don't comment on personnel matters," said John Feehery, spokesman for 
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

The House normally has 72 pages, all 16 to 18 years old, serving as 
messengers and performing other duties when not attending education 
programs. They are appointed by House members of both parties from their 
home districts and must sign a code of conduct.

Scandal has rocked the program periodically, most seriously in the early 
1980s when former Reps. Gerry Studds, D-Mass, and Daniel Crane, R-Ill., 
were censured for sexual misconduct with pages. In 1996, five pages were 
dismissed for underage drinking.
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