MARIJUANA STILL POPS UP IN SCHOOLS

Marijuana is no longer the problem it was in high schools two or three
decades ago, but local administrators still encounter the drug and enforce
strict penalties for its use and possession.

All four of the biggest school districts in north central Wisconsin have
had to expel one or more students in the past few years for possessing or
smoking marijuana.

All of the districts have drug abuse and education programs in place for
students to use. And officials said they will continue to support those
programs in hopes of diminishing the problem even more.

"But it's like anything else - like cigarettes and drinking," said Merrill
High School Principal Brian Doran. "I know it's going to be used." The
Merrill Area Public Schools has expelled eight students since the beginning
of the school year. Seven of them were for marijuana possession. Those
seven students were expelled when they were caught as a group, Doran said.

Superintendent Frank Harrington said marijuana use "is definitely a
problem." "From my observations, the use hasn't diminished much in recent
years," said Harrington, who has been the superintendent in Merrill for six
years.

Merrill and other districts try to reach students with anti-drug and
anti-tobacco programs, but it's tough to counter peer pressure, said Jane
Freitag, Wausau School District coordinator for school counseling and
guidance services.

"It's the strongest influence," she said. "But then I do think that when I
went to Wausau West High School in the '70s, marijuana usage was much
worse." The Wausau School District has had one expulsion in the past three
years - for selling the drug on school property.

The Wausau School District usually suspends students for marijuana use or
possession instead of expelling them, said John Waldron, director of pupil
services.

The district is in the process of conducting a survey that asks students
about their drug use. The survey results will be available by May, Waldron
said.

The Mosinee School District has had five expulsions in the past 12 months.
Two of them were for marijuana. And in the past year, the D.C. Everest
School District has had one marijuana-related expulsion.

"I haven't noticed an increase over the last 20 years, and from my
experience the worst period was the late '70s and the '80s," said Mosinee
Superintendent Jerry Rosso. "We are always working on the problem."