Pubdate: Wed, 11 Dec 2002
Source: CNN (US Web)
Copyright: 2002 Cable News Network, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.cnn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/65

FLORIDA THIRD-GRADERS FACE POT CHARGES

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (CNN) -- Two third-graders at a Florida elementary 
school are facing felony charges Wednesday after police said they were 
found to have 15 plastic bags of marijuana.

Port St. Lucie police said a cafeteria worker at the Rivers Edge Elementary 
School told them a 9-year-old boy had shown her a plastic bag of what 
appeared to be pot.

The boy had 12 small bags of marijuana, according to a police report.

The student admitted he attempted to sell some of the bags to another 
third-grader, according to police. A second pupil was found in possession 
of three bags, police said. He told police he got them from the first boy 
on the bus on the way to school.

The boy with three bags was charged with possession of marijuana, a felony 
because it happened on school grounds. The second boy was charged with 
felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

The boy with 12 bags initially told police he found them on the ground in 
Fort Pierce, a city north of Port St. Lucie where he lives. He then said 
another child gave it to him to sell.

Police said they are looking for a Fort Pierce teenager in connection with 
the incident.

Port St. Lucie is an Atlantic Coast city about 120 miles north of Miami. 
Police estimate the drugs -- about 16 grams of marijuana -- were worth 
about $75.

The boys were booked into the St. Lucie Regional Detention Center and then 
released to their parents or legal guardians Monday night. A police 
spokesman said these are the youngest children they have arrested on 
charges of marijuana possession.

A school district spokeswoman said the Rivers Edge Elementary School sent a 
letter to parents explaining the situation. She called it an isolated 
incident, the first of its kind involving elementary-age students in her 
district.

The students were suspended for 10 days and have been recommended for 
expulsion under the school district's zero-tolerance policy for drugs.
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