Four-year-old brings marijuana to school, offers to share with classmates

posted at 12:38 pm on January 31, 2012 by Howard Portnoy

Remember the rule—that you can’t chew gum in class unless you have enough to share with everyone? It’s a lesson that a preschooler appears to have learned well. Reuters reports:

A four-year-old U.S. boy who announced to his teacher at school snack time that he wanted to share pulled nine bags of marijuana out of his jacket pocket, police said on Wednesday.

Police in Meriden, Connecticut were called to Hanover Elementary School Tuesday afternoon after the young special needs student displayed the drugs, authorities said.

Meriden police are on record as saying that child was carrying nine individually wrapped bags of marijuana that looked like they had been “prepared for sale.” The report does not specify whether the pot came from the child’s own stash or whether his mommy packed it in his lunchbox next to his pb & j sandwich.

Mark Benigni, the Meriden schools superintendent, told Reuters:

What’s so disheartening is this is really an adult issue and problem and adult behavior put a student at risk.

This student had no idea what he brought to school or what the substance was.

Or at least so he assumes. Is there any reason to suppose that parents who send a controlled substance to school with their 4-year-old are above identifying and using it in his presence? For all the superintendent knows, the child may regularly consume foods prepared with the drug. Or smoke it himself.

The Department of Children and Families is reported to be looking into the incident.

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