12 KEYSER STUDENTS SUSPENDED OVER DRUGS

KEYSER (AP) -- A dozen Keyser High School students accused of taking
prescription drugs brought to school by another student have been suspended
for the rest of the school year.

The students allegedly took the drugs Oct. 4, said Mineral County Sheriffs
Deputy Craig Fraley. Teachers noticed some of the students were displaying
a change in behavior after having an adverse reaction to the drugs, said
Fraley, a resource officer at the school.

''We contacted their parents and they took them to the hospital,'' he said.

Fraley said the student who brought the drugs to school apparently handed
them out freely to his friends. There was no indication that he was trying
to sell the pills, he said.

The 12 students were suspended Thursday in a special session of the Mineral
County Board of Education. A hearing for the student accused of bringing
the drugs to school was postponed.

Fraley said he had been working with some of the students before the incident.

''They'd been improving their grades and had dropped the gothic makeup;
they were really doing well,'' he said. ''But it only took that one pill
and they got caught up again.''