VITAMIN C NOT IMMUNE FROM SCHOOL'S DRUG POLICY

LOVELAND -- Jordan Edmondson is 8 years old and he knows the rules against
drugs in school, but he wonders how a chewable vitamin C tablet made the
list.

He was suspended from Big Thompson Elementary School on Tuesday for giving a
tablet to a classmate "because she kept asking me for it," the second-grader
said Wednesday.

Another classmate told school officials, and Annalies Edmondson, Jordan's
mother, was asked pick up her son.

"They say it's like a controlled substance," the boy said. "I don't know why
they say that."

His mother is confused, too. She wonders why the principal suspended Jordan
rather than explain that giving classmates a vitamin tablet isn't
appropriate.

"It's totally asinine," she said. "It's vitamin C; we give them to our kids
every day. I got it at Target; tell me it's a controlled substance."

Jordan returned to school Wednesday.

District policy forbids students to possess or distribute controlled
substances, including vitamins, said Ron Lauterbach, Thompson School
District's director of instructional support services.

"There's a chance there could be a disastrous reaction," Lauterbach said.

Jordan's family supports the drug policy, but Annalies Edmondson said the
suspension was extreme. She talked to Jordan about the incident Tuesday.

"She told me not to give stuff to people," Jordan said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"