cannabisnews.com: Manteca Boys Lose Pot Appeal!





Manteca Boys Lose Pot Appeal!
Posted by FoM on August 17, 1999 at 07:29:35 PT
By Ken Carlson
Source: Modesto Bee
MANTECA School district trustees upheld a decision to suspend three Sierra High School students for smoking marijuana.
Travis McPherson, Adam Zeiher and David Perry were suspended for five days, ordered to attend other schools in the Manteca Unified School District and disqualified from playing sports after they admitted to smoking marijuana during lunch break May 25.  Their parents appealed to the Manteca Unified School District board, saying high school officials pressured the 17-year-old boys into signing confessions. All three will be seniors when the fall semester begins next week.  District trustees considered the matter in closed session last week. Officials informed the parents Friday the appeal is denied.  Greg and Virginia McPherson said they are considering legal action.  "Nobody looked at our side," said Greg McPherson, Travis' father. "This isn't Nazi Germany in 1939."  The students ran afoul of a zero-tolerance drug policy enforced districtwide. Superintendent Marv Tatum said first-time marijuana use typically results in a suspension and transfer.  Selling drugs or having a gun on campus results in automatic expulsion, he said.  Trustee Manuel Medeiros defended the board's decision.  "From the information given to us, we had to do what we did," Medeiros said. "What is more important? Sports or an education?"  The McPhersons view an athletic scholarship, however, as their son's ticket to a good college. Travis was a lineman for the Sierra High football team and also played on the golf team. California Interscholastic Federation rules will bar Travis from playing sports his senior year if he's transferred to another school for disciplinary reasons.  On May 25, the boys piled into Zeiher's car to eat lunch off campus. When they returned, a school monitor stopped the car to check Zeiher's off-campus pass. Saying he smelled marijuana in the car, the monitor took the boys to the dean's office, where they were questioned in separate rooms.  School officials reported smelling marijuana in the car's ashtray and found a copy of High Times in the vehicle. The magazine features articles on growing and smoking marijuana.  The parents counter, however, that marijuana was not found in the car, the students' backpacks or their lockers.  If legal remedies fail, the McPhersons said they will seek a transfer out of the district for their son. The Zeihers are investigating appeal options with the San Joaquin County Board of Education. Perry's parents declined to comment. Staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at 239-2152. Pubdate: August 17, 1999Copyright © The Modesto Bee. 
END SNIP -->
Snipped
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #3 posted by George ofthe on August 18, 1999 at 01:56:53 PT
Sports and drugs..
If I were a coach, I wouldn't want my players hooked on tobacco, but you don't kicked out of sports for that.Wake up america.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 17, 1999 at 18:24:47 PT
I agree!
Punishing young people will not stop their experimentation with mind altering substances. I do not personally approve of any young developing mind using drugs but I think the punishment is far worse then the act itself.Peace, FoM!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on August 17, 1999 at 17:25:45 PT:
War
Another example here of: Why the 'war' on drugs is more injurious to the people than the drug. Shouldn't the smoking of a drug that is generally responsible for about 100,000 deaths a year be treated at least at the same level? Ah, but Big Tobacco sells that one ...Let the kids back in to the game, parents, of you are really serious about being relevent to the kids ...By the way ... Pot kills 0 a year
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: