SUSPENSION RESCINDED FOR BOY WHO SMELLED OF MARIJUANA

Ottawa - The Catholic school board in Ottawa has withdrawn its
suspension of a 15-year-old student whose jacket appeared to smell of
marijuana.

The board suspended Chris Laurin after a police dog sniffed his jacket.

Chris appeared at a news conference Friday with his father and his
lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon.

Chris Laurin says he's had a knot in his stomach for the last couple
of days, because he didn't know what the board was going to do.

But on Friday, the principal of the school met with Chris and his
father to apologize for the suspension.

Greenspon says the board will also remove the incident from the boy's
permanent school record.

He says the case does not set a legal precedent, but he doubts that
another school will suspend anybody without some kind of physical
evidence.

Chris says the worst part for him was being brought down in front of
his teachers as he was led through the school, with a teacher holding
his jacket at arms length.

Now, he's relieved to know that he'll have a clean record and says
the incident taught him a lot about civil rights.

The case has drawn so much attention that Chris and his father have
set up an e-mail address so that people can discuss the issue with
them.