TRI-CITIES STUDENTS PUNISHED FOLLOWING DRUG ALLEGATIONS

Two Tri-Cities Area Public Schools Are Grappling With Drug-Use On
Their Campuses.

Nine students were suspended from Hopewell High School yesterday in
connection with possession of a drug used to treat hyperactivity. Four
of those students were suspended for distributing the prescription
medication as well. School officials did not identify the drug.

Hopewell High principal Gayle Keith said 28 pills were taken from the
home of at least one student and either sold or given to students at
school Tuesday.

Keith sent a letter home to parents Wednesday informing them of the
situation. Some of the students were suspended Wednesday, others
yesterday, and Keith said there may be more suspensions once an
investigation is complete.

The incident comes on the heels of three student expulsions at N.B.
Clements Junior High School in Prince George County, relating to the
distribution and possession of the prescription drug OxyContin.

County police responded to the school on Oct. 29 after a student was
taken to the hospital from his home in an apparent overdose of the
drug, which is used to relieve pain.

The N.B. Clements students were expelled for 265 days, and three
others also received suspensions, according to the School Board office.