COOPER CITY STUDENTS HIT WITH DRUG CHARGES

Five Cooper City High School students face possible expulsion after
being charged at school Thursday with possession of Xanax, an anti-
anxiety drug.

"We have a zero tolerance," said Joe Melita, who heads special
investigations for Broward County schools. "It's something that we
don't take very lightly. ... There will be consequences if they make
the wrong choices."

Four of the students, ages 16 and 17, were taken to the Juvenile
Intervention Facility in Fort Lauderdale, said Cooper City Police
Capt. Marvin Stoner. The other was released to his parents for medical
reasons.

Three students are charged with felony possession of drugs and intent
to sell, Stoner said. The other was charged with simple possession.

"All the charges are felony, and they will be upgraded because it
happened in a school," Stoner said, adding that state law prohibits
the sale, use and possession of drugs within 1,000 feet of a school
facility.

The amount of drugs seized from the students indicated the possibility
that a sale might have taken place, Stoner said. He said investigators
were trying to determine where the students got the drugs.

Xanax is popular among teenagers, who can combine it with alcohol and
marijuana to get a bigger high. Stoner said it "makes you really
mellow and even lethargic."

Police did not disclose the names of the students, two girls and three
boys in 11th and 12th grades, because they are minors.

Stoner said the students fell under suspicion this week when the
school's resource officer and administrators noticed they appeared
under influence of drugs in class. The students were sleeping in class
and couldn't pay attention to teachers, who reported them to
authorities.

On Wednesday, officers gathered more information about possible drug
use during a junior varsity football game. The suspected students were
questioned in a school office Thursday, and arrested after they were
found in possession of the anti-anxiety drug.

Cooper City High has had individual drug incidents involving marijuana
and pills in the past, Stoner said. But this is the first time police
have arrested so many students in a single drug incident.

"It's very much unusual," Stoner said. "We've never made any arrest of
this magnitude in this school."

Melita said the students may not return to the school, although they
might be recommended to a special program for rehabilitation.

Ironically, the incident occurred about three weeks before the Oct. 23
drug summit, which is supposed to draw thousands of students to the
War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale.

Cooper City Commissioner Debby Eisinger, who serves on the high
school's advisory council, said her city has a reputation as a
wealthy, family-oriented community with great schools. But drugs have
no boundaries, she said.

"It can happen anywhere," Eisinger said. "It's a wakeup call for
parents to get involved in their children's lives."