BONG NOT BOMB CLEARS SCHOOL

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Investigators treated a bong as a possible
bomb and evacuated 1,000 students on the anniversary of the Columbine
High School shooting.

The bomb scare occurred after seven teen-agers who were walking
Thursday behind Roland-Grise Middle School ran when approached by a
deputy assigned to the school. A search turned up a cardboard
fireworks tube.

Because the seven wouldn't tell officers what the tube contained, the
school was evacuated and the students were taken to a park nearby.

Alarmed parents flocked to the school to pick up their children while
police blocked off streets.

Only after a bomb squad destroyed the tube did detectives learn that
it was being used to carry a bong, a pipe for smoking marijuana.

``What we have is a B-O-N-G, not a B-O-M-B,'' said sheriff's Capt.
David Smithey.

Two students were released without charges. One 15-year-old was
charged as a juvenile with possession of drug paraphernalia. The four
others were charged as adults and released on $1,000 bail.

The school was on heightened security because of the Columbine
anniversary.

``They picked a bad day,'' Smithey said.