CHURCHILL, WHITMAN TEENS ARRESTED IN DRUG BUST

Police Say More Arrests to Come in High School Dealing Scheme

Police arrested and charged two high school students from Bethesda
and Potomac in a drug bust on Friday. Police expect to make more
arrests in what they believe was a drug-dealing plan involving
several high school students.

Two adults, as well as the two teens, had been arrested as of Tuesday,
and more than 2 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of
$12,000 had been seized, police said. The investigation is ongoing.

Police believe several students from high schools including Walt
Whitman in Bethesda, Winston Churchill in Potomac and Woodrow Wilson
in Northwest Washington, "pooled their money together to purchase the
marijuana with the believed intent to distribute to other teenagers,"
according to a statement from Montgomery County Police.

Detectives on Friday began investigating a tip that drugs were being
sold from a house on the [redacted] in Rockville.
The detectives saw [redacted] visit the
house and drive away carrying a bag. Detectives followed [redacted]
and, with help from a Rockville City Police officer, pulled him over
for traffic violations. The officers smelled marijuana. A drug dog
assisted them in finding 8 ounces of "higher potency" marijuana in
the trunk, police said in the statement. Marroquin was charged with
possession and released.

At this point, according to the statement, detectives awaiting a
search warrant for the house saw two people later identified as high
school students enter the house and leave with a bag. They drove away
with [redacted] who police identified as a resident of the house.

[redacted].

Detectives pulled over the vehicle with [redacted] and the teens, smelled
marijuana and found 2.5 pounds in the trunk. All three were arrested.

Police charged the 17-year-old male from Bethesda, a Whitman student,
and a 17-year-old female from Potomac, a Churchill student, with
possession with intent to distribute. Both were released to family
members.

Police found more marijuana, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, packing
materials, scales, unidentified "related documents" and $6,600 in the
Whitman student's home, according to the statement. Additional charges
for drugs and paraphernalia are pending, said Lucille Baur, police
spokeswoman.

Police searching [redacted]'s house found more marijuana, packing
materials and scales, and $2,600. He is charged with possession with
intent to distribute and an additional two counts of committing the
crime in a school zone, as his house is within 1,000 feet of the
Carver Educational Center. He was released after posting a $50,000
bond.

It is fairly unusual for high school students to be involved with drug
deals at this level, Baur said. It is more routine for drug arrests
involving high school students and marijuana to involve a few ounces
of the drug.

"It is not as though they had an unusually large amount," she said.
"What is unusual is that these are high school students in possession
of this amount."

Baur said she hoped the incident would serve as a "wake up call" for
parents.

"The caution here is that it's very important for parents to know who
their young people are acquainted with and what they're doing," she
said. "They should know that it does happen and it does happen in
very nice communities like Bethesda and Potomac."

Marijuana use among high school students is a bigger problem than some
might expect, said Rita Rumbaugh, substance abuse prevention
specialist with the Montgomery County Public Schools Department of
Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

"It's something that we see in every community and every neighborhood
in Montgomery County," she said. "I'm very grateful that the police
are taking a serious look at this."

More adolescents are in treatment for marijuana use than any other
type of substance abuse in the county, she said.

"From my point of view, marijuana is easier to get in Montgomery
County than alcohol," she said.

With county task forces and programs in and out of school focused on
preventing teen drinking, marijuana has flown under the radar, she
said.

Montgomery County students reported using marijuana less frequently
than their colleagues in other parts of the state according to the
2004 Maryland Adolescent Survey, a report by the Maryland State
Department of Education.

However, while county students may report using less marijuana, it is
still a problem, Rumbaugh said.

Parents who suspect their children may have friends involved with
drugs can contact their school assistance team, which can intervene
early to meet with students and parents and recommend services, she
said.

Many parents don't understand how potent marijuana is now, she said.
Even if a student smokes marijuana only on weekends and occasionally
during the week, it is enough for them to be in a constant state of
clouded thinking, she said.

"Parents do not know the harmful effects of marijuana," she said.