KID'S GREEN LUNCH SPICE WASN'T OREGANO -- IT WAS POT

A kindergartner found sprinkling his friend's food with marijuana at a
Miami-Dade public school sparks questions from police and social workers.

A kindergartner's scattering leafy greens onto his friend's lasagna
piqued a cafeteria worker's interest Monday and prompted a police
investigation at a North Miami-Dade elementary school.

The mystery ingredient: marijuana.

Both students, the small plastic bag containing the green vegetable
matter and the pot-laced entree were marched to the front office at
Gratigny Elementary.

The students eventually returned to class. But now the family of the
kindergartner who had the marijuana is under the scrutiny of schools
police and state child-welfare authorities.

''The boy is not going to be charged,'' said Mayco Villafa,
spokesman for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. ``The focus is on the
child's environment and what issues could have led to a child having a
bag of marijuana in school.''

The kindergarten class was just settling down with their lunchboxes
and cafeteria trays midday at the school at 11905 N. Miami Ave.

''A cafeteria monitor observed a 5-year-old sprinkling some green
particles on the lasagna of another 5-year-old,'' Villafa said.
``The monitor approached the boy and noticed he had dropped the bag
and was trying to hide it with his feet.''

The monitor confiscated the lasagna before the student could eat it.

Initially, the boy ''may have said it was oregano,'' Villafa said.

But detectives with the schools police field-tested the lasagna's
topping and confirmed that it was pot.

The amount was 'less than what we call a `nickel bag,' '' said Sgt.
Carlos Fernandez of the schools police. A nickel bag is approximately
half a gram.

According to the Miami Poison Information Center, a child exposed to
small amounts of marijuana could experience symptoms consistent with
low-level intoxication.

Schools police took the matter to the state attorney's office.

''The final analysis was to hold the boy [faultless],'' said
Villafa, adding that it was unclear whether the kindergartner even
knew he was carrying marijuana. ``That's hard to confirm with a
5-year-old.''

In addition to speaking with the boy's family, police are looking into
whether an older friend asked the boy to hold the plastic bag. The
case was also referred to Florida's Department of Children & Families,
Villafa said.

After speaking with police, the boys were allowed to return to their
kindergarten class. Both sets of parents were contacted about the
police inquiry.

And the uneaten lunch-turned-evidence? ''The material was analyzed,''
Villafa said. ``And then the lasagna was disposed of.''