STUDENTS SUSPENDED IN WAKE OF DRUG THEFT

PINCKNEY - Seven Pinckney High School students have been suspended and
five others are under investigation after a youth stole hundreds
prescription pills from a pharmacy where he worked and handed them out
at school.

State police said 17-year-old clerk removed at least 200 doses of
Ritalin and the narcotic Vacodin from the Pinckney Pharmacy.

That student has confessed and has been suspended for 10 days, a
punishment that began Monday. The other six students have admitted to
either accepting or distributing the drugs at school and received
five-day suspensions per district policy, said Superintendent Mike
Couchman.

Of the five other students still under investigation, three have
denied involvement. They will be asked to take lie-detector tests
administered by the state police, Couchman said.

"(The students) are aware of the code of conduct, they are aware of
the consequences, and if they make a bad choice, they know what is
going to happen without any leniency whatsoever," Couchman said.

Couchman said school officials were informed by police on March 24.
School officials searched four of the suspected students' lockers, but
did not turn up any drugs, Couchman said. The student who brought the
drugs to school will have to be evaluated by a substance abuse
professional before he's allowed to return.

Couchman said to his knowledge there have been no adverse health
effects for students who ingested either drug. He said the drug was
limited to the high school.

Detective Sgt. Tom Cremonte of the State Police Brighton Post said
school officials responded quickly when told of the drug problem.

"The school took immediate action to ensure there were no longer any
of these stolen drugs in the school," Cremonte said. "It is a crime to
sell and distribute drugs and penalty is double if you do it on school
property."

Cremonte said the drugs were stolen between the end of February and
mid-March. At first, pharmacists thought the pills might have been
misplaced. But once an inventory showed they were missing, a store
manager told police.

Cremonte said the student clerk wasn't allowed to go behind the
pharmacy counter, but did so secretly and took the drugs from a bin
after hours. No arrests have been made or charges filed. Cremonte said
he plans to send a full report to the county prosecutor's office next
week.

Ritalin is a drug commonly prescribed to treat attention deficit
disorder in young children, but the stimulant increasingly is abused
by teens. Couchman said there have been no other reported incidents
involving the drug at the school.

Dr. Brian Cook, director of emergency services at St. Joseph Mercy
Hospital, said if taken in excess, Ritalin can induce vomiting,
seizures, confusion, headaches and high blood pressure.

"It would feel very similar the effects of drinking too much coffee,"
Cook said.

Vacodin, a pain reliever, can be highly addictive. It slows
perceptions and reaction times and can cause liver damage and
addiction, Cook said.

Reporter Scott Anderson can be reached at (734) 994-6818.