SCHOOL YANKS PROPS IN GIRL'S POT PROJECT

SANTA CRUZ - School officials are considering whether to snuff
out a 13-year-old girl's science project that examines medical uses
for marijuana.

The junior high schooler was allowed to present her report to
classmates Thursday, but afterward school officials confiscated her
props -- including a marijuana-laced muffin and a spray bottle of
pot-steeped rubbing alcohol.

The girl's father, Joe Morris, said Mission Hill Junior High officials
gave initial clearance for the project and should have said something
earlier if they objected.

``Don't children have constitutional rights?'' Morris said. ``In a
way, it's censorship and that's not acceptable.''

But he said he might have erred in letting his daughter take the props
to school.

``I should have used better judgment,'' he said, noting he was
grateful the school returned the props to him, rather than calling law
enforcement.

Morris said his daughter became interested in the subject because her
aunt is a caregiver for a woman who uses marijuana as a medicine. The
girl didn't advocate marijuana use, he said, but instead researched
the project with library books and patient surveys and analyzed and
graphed her findings.

School officials haven't yet decided if the girl can display her
``Mary Jane for Pain'' project next week when judges from University
of California-Santa Cruz and the NASA/Ames Research Lab award prizes.