Student Arrested For Smoking Pot During A Class Presentation

You're ridiculous...seriously ridiculous...

indeed i am

thank you good stuff

But he wont even get in trouble with the law.. arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana.

S3th, I take your points; and refute none. Although I will say it seems like the label you've given was intended to be either sarcastic or derogatory; whereas I'm complimented. Guess I've done too many things in my life I'm not so proud of and that seems a worthy cause. Hand me the drum, will ya?

That 18 is the age you can vote and put on your countries uniform, yet not be old enough to buy a beer I felt personally all those years ago. I boarded a train for Parris Island on my 17th birthday. This in 1965. The situation rankled. I could drink a beer on base but not in town. At least the service was providing me some recognition. Looking at those old photos now I think we were all kids; very few of us 21. Lots of us never made it. Yea, I take your point.

And I think a lot of kids are coddled, and others bullied. I've raised 2. My son turned out too much like me for comfort; where my daughter just graduated Magna Cum Laude. Most everybody can have kids; not everybody should. I'd give myself 50%. Not so bad. I've done worse.

Much is made of cannabis being a natural plant. For myself, I don't give any credence to that. An opium poppy is natural too.

It's my opinion that age doesn't have much to do with maturity. Some folks never grow up. But for the sake of legality you have to set the std. somewhere.

None the less, while I give this kid points for courage and credit for having the sense to eat the roach, I still think it was an immature act. He's demonstrated his feelings in a profound way. No denying that. But I can't see where he's aided the cause. Got himself in trouble, which hopefully he'll get out of, but teenage stoners make no impression on our legislators nor do they help change the minds of those opposed to legalization. He's either accomplished nothing or helped the wrong side. I don't think that's what he was trying to do. Although it had to have been one hell of a presentation.

I also think that a mature evaluation of this, had he given it one, would have convinced him this wasn't the smartest thing to do. Adults are called upon to make judgement calls and this is a thing you develop skill in. I expect this young man has a little more now. What he got out of this isn't worth what he put into it. I'd rather see him make the effort where it's going to count. There's plenty of us old farts around to carry the banner. Better us than the kids. Been there, done that. If you want to help; make your shots count.

Kids are great. I think we learn way more from them, then they do from us.

I'm not going to criticize the young man who had the courage to stand up in front of everyone, knowing the kind of trouble he was going to be in, and doing what he did.

I know it sounds stupid, but when I read this in my minds eye I saw the young chinese man standing in front of the tank.

I know it's a bit of a stretch to imagine how my mind could have brought that image as a parallel. And it may be far off the mark as a metaphor...But, you gotta give the guy some credit. It was very ballsy!

The army of cops/laws out there to punish, or even destroy us for smoking a plant are overwhelming to even imagine. And this kid just stands up in front of everyone, and puts his future at risk, while making a statement. It may seem juvenile to most adults, but to me, it reeks of backbone!

Nuff said!

BTW, I wasn't trying to be overly sarcastic, just trying to make a point!

S3th, Freely given; freely accepted. We're on the same side, just view it differently. That's cool. Your points are well taken.

At 60, I consider myself fortunate my dad is still with us. I respect his opinion above all others. I've never seen the man loose his temper once; where that's one of my many shortcomings. I don't always follow his advice, but I listen. Do folks that are 60 need advice? Damn right. Age doesn't bring wisdom, just perspective. He has more than I do.

When you start talking kids on the brink of maturity advice is the best you can do. If you've done your job right, they listen. If not, well.....

I hope this kid weathers this with flying colors. I'd hate to see him blunted with reality. He's obviously a stand up guy. The movement needs those. Give him a few more trips around the block I'll welcome his help with open arms.

Well said.

Dood that's the only way to go to class!

No, it is both illegal and against school rules to get drunk in school too. God, it is just so funny to listen to people talk about getting high like it is an act of bravery. It's just mental masturbation. People get stoned to feel good. I mean we talk about this ridiculous situation now where every single kid who plays little league has to get a trophy at the end of the season because we don't want to scar their little minds by having them think that they may have LOST a game or taken 4th place in the championship playoffs -- they might think they are LOSERS. Well if THAT mentality is ridiculous (it is) how ridiculous is it to give somebody a medal for getting wasted. "Hey, he was able to keep his lighter activated long enough to fire an entire bong hit...give that guy a TROPHY...or at least accolades for having struck a blow for liberty. Give me a break. I will say, however, that I would rather hang with a bunch of stoners than with a bunch of drunks...but I am not quite sure that qualifies the former for the Nobel Prize...

More of making a statement than a self control issue.

CZtheday, you missed the point this kid was making and did make. Many Very Intelligent people smoke cannabis and we are increasingly becoming impatient with our government's ability to realize this.

Cmon throwing throwing a kid in jail for burning a plant?

And i know you will throw the This is the Law bullshit at me but if our founding fathers hadn't broken the law and become rebels we would still be a commonwealth of England.

We dont punish people for being ignorant and religous, so why do we imprison people for being intelligent potheads. And I realize there are a bunch of dumb stoners out there but there are alot more stupid sober people out there. Stop being robots and enlighten yourself

No, I am not going to throw the law at you. It is heavy and parts of it are kind of old and smelly. I couldn't do that to someone I haven't even met.

No, my reply to all of the posts in this vein on this thread with the old "two wrongs don't make a right" manoeuvre. He wasn't just burning a plant. He was getting high. He was making EXACTLY the same statement that he would have been making if he had put a six pack of beer on his desk and cracked them open one at time during class.

This may shock you, but the vast, vast majority 90+(?) of the taxpayers whose hard-earned dollars are paying for the teacher and the books and paying off the building loan on the school, etc.expect that the students will actually pay attention while they are in school AND not do things that disrupt the ability of OTHER students to pay attention while they are in school.

This student could have made his statement in a hundred other contexts.

I would simply ask that you consider another perspective on this issue. I fully understand that many and perhaps most people who smoke marijuana would prefer that doing so be legal just like drinking beer is legal. BUT remember, even for college student who have reached the age of 21, I am not aware of a single college in the country that allows students to drink cocktails in class.

So yes, this student was doing something illegal by smoking marijuana. But that is NOT the basis of my objection to his conduct. Smoking mariuana is not appropriate in school even if it WERE legal to smoke it at all AND even if it were legal to smoke it under the age of 21 (I wonder if many have thought through the fact that even if marijuana is legalized it is not likely to be available to minors -- for those whose response is "Hey, I am over 21, what do I care?" I guess we can see just how "principled" their position is."

But I would even take this issue a step deeper. People want to be able to have a legal "social toke" in the same way they can have a legal "social drink." Great. But can we stop pretending that EITHER of these things is some glorious celebration of life, love, motherhood, and the human condition? Either way, you're getting wasted.

I have watched literally thousands of people do it my whole life. I loved many of those people before, during and after. But that didn't change the fact that it almost ALWAYS made them dumber, less interesting, less attractive, sleepy, dopey, and generally no fun to be around. In most cases, of course, THEY thought they were a HOOT! Heh. Heh. No.

You're not striking a blow for freedom. You're not defending the American Dream. You're getting biffle-dinked. You're scrambling your head for an hour or three because it feels good. Immediate physical gratification -- can't even wait until after English class.

There is a word for this: PATHETIC.

@cztheday

He did it as a statement during his speech. This was not him trying to get high in class, it was part of his presentation (like a protest). They weren't even in class it was on stage in the auditorium. He wont even get in trouble for it legally, just with his school.

Did you read the article?

Of course I read the article. And yes this was VERY much a kid trying to get high at school. What possible difference could it make that it was done in an auditorium as part of a class presentation? There are literally DOZENS of things a teenager might like to do that are illegal or inappropriate in a school setting. Under your logic, the kid could do any of them as long as he draped himself in the context of a "protest." Seriously, why not let him toss back a pint of Old Grandad up there to protest the fact that our drinking laws aren't as liberal as, say, those in France and Italy?

Oh, you are defying the law and school rules by getting totally wasted in class as a PROTEST...well, then by all means toke away! Can I assume you will be protesting again tomorrow? No? Oh, tomorrow is your buddy's turn to protest? As impossible as it is to believe that a bunch of 16-year-olds watching one of their friends get away with smoking a joint by calling it a protest might then turn around and decide to do the same thing themselves, I GUESS it could happen.

Then I see S3 down there with yet another brainless "he is just burning a plant" post. Oh. My. God. Again, under that 'logic' they should be able to booze it up to their little hearts' content...it's just fermented grapes, after all...it's NATURAL. Better yet, why not toss back a few mushrooms or a peyote button or two? And for that matter why not slide a little hemlock or nightshade into some asshole jock's water bottle. It's like, nature, dude...

If this kid wants to protest his inability to legally smoke weed, he could have painted a sign with his message, walked to any park or the sidewalk in front of any government building, smoked his ass off and gotten himself arrested. THAT would have been about his individual rights. Doing so in a SCHOOL, however, infringes on MY rights to send my kids to a drug-free school and to one in which I don't have to be concerned about their learning environment being disrupted over somebody firing up a joint in class (I don't care if it is an audiorium, the school gym, the school theater, shop class or whatever.

I actually agree with most of the decriminalization movement's arguments. But there is NO chance -- I mean NONE -- that if marijuana is ever decriminalized that it is going to be legally available to minors or that it will be allowed to be consumed in school. Maybe one person in a hundred can go to class stoned and really get anything out of the class. We ask kids to go to school for a relatively tiny portion of each day compared to the time most adults spend working. Those kids have the rest of the afternoon and all evening to get stoned. It doesn't belong in school.

I actually agree with most of the decriminalization arguments. But I do have to say that in 20 years of traveling all over the country on business and in all of my conversations with friends and family over that same time period, the subject has NEVER EVEN COME UP until I started posting to this site three months ago. I am sure there are people who feel quite strongly about it. I remember reading High Times in the late 70s, and some people felt that way. But for the vast, vast majority of people in this country, the issue is a total nonstarter. I would be EXTREMELY surprised to see decriminalization in the next decade. The people here may have convinced EACH OTHER that this development is right around the corner, but...not. gonna. happen.