Three Juneau-Douglas High School students were caught with marijuana in school Wednesday afternoon, and one of them was arrested, according to police.
Juneau Police Department Captain of Operations Ed Mercer confirmed Thursday the school notified police a little after 1 p.m. that three students — a 15-, 16- and 17-year-old — were believed to be in possession of marijuana. Officers confiscated the drugs, arrested the 15-year-old and released the other two students to their guardians.
The 15-year-old was charged with fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and taken to Johnson Youth Center. Similar charges are expected to be filed against the 16- and 17-year olds at a later date.
All of the students’ parents were contacted, Mercer said.
It was not clear the amount of drugs involved.
Mercer could not speculate about this particular instance as to why one teenager was arrested while the others released, but said that speaking generally, several factors weigh into that, including prior history.
Mercer also said it is an automatic felony charge to have any illegal narcotic of any amount on school grounds.
It is not immediately known if the students will also be punished administratively through the school.
Possession of drugs is prohibited by school board policy, according to the school’s website, and first violation for use or possession can result in suspension for up to 10 days. Third violations can result in suspension for 30 days and students can be expelled.
Those penalties advance for each subsequent violation. Discipline can also be more stringent if called for in another board policy or administrative regulation.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (36)
Add commentHow about parents being charges with felonies?
Anyone agree with this punishment? On the flip side the law requires their kids to go to school. How fair is that?
Felony?
I have a very difficult time believing the kids are going to be thrown in the slammer over this...at least not Lemon Creek. They'll be coddled at JYC ,at worst. They need some shaking up, for certain. I'm disgusted by how so many act like marijuana is no big deal. Yeah, alcohol is legal and Prohibition didn't work....but really, look into the lives of children who are sitting home neglected or physically abused because their parents are drunk or stoned. Rarely does anyone intercede on families who are a complete mess as a result of of substance abuse...usually people look the other way, because alcohol is legal and "marijuana isn't bad~ it's just hyped". Yeah, try telling that to the three year old whose trying to get their own food. A slap on the wrist for these kids is just telling them it's "no biggy" and helping to cultivate future losers & abusers...and don't forget~they'll just be extra DUI offenders out on the road. Don't ya just love being behind a weaving fool behind the wheel of a truck?
Are you for real???
I really think advocating smoking pot in school is the height of idiocy.
That said, community service, and lots of it.
Thank you JPD
Thank you JPD for removing drugs from the school environment that my daughters attend. The felony label is to deter people from bringing drugs onto a campus where we (as parents) are supposed to feel that our children are safe.
Although a few liberals and potheads on this forum think that a felony is too extreme (or even think that a law is too extreme), most of us clear-headed parents are thankful that there are such strich deterrents in order to keep our children safe.
That all being said, there is no way a prosecutor here in Juneau is going to push the felony charge. We all know that the judge would drop that in court.
I agree with momzilla64, "community service, and lots of it."
We are just going to trust the judge to 'do the right thing?'
If you agree with the law that minors should be charged with a felony for having pot in school, that's one thing, but to believe that it doesn't matter what the law says because the judge will 'do the right thing' is a dangerous outlook.
The laws apply to pot the same as other drugs, and we know that the oxycontin(sp?) problem is all over this town INCLUDING inside the schools, and I don't think kids should get a slap on the wrist if they are caught dealing oxy in the schools.
Do you?
If the law applies to pot the same as it would apply to oxy, then the kids are in grave danger of being treated the same by the letter of the law. Of course, it would depend on what the kids' last names are, as other posters here have mentioned.
It is quite true that who you are matters a lot more than what you do when you are inside the school system.
If we know what the law is, we are responsible for accepting the consequences to our children if we do not do anything to change the law.
What about 'mandatory minimum sentencing' laws? Do they apply to any felony drug charge committed on school grounds, regardless of the fact that it's just kids and not adult drug dealers who got caught in the net?
What about pointing all the guns at the person who sold or gave the kids the pot in the first place? It might very well have been their own parents.