Pubdate: Thu, 16 May 2002
Source: Daily Press (VA)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585
Author: Stephanie Barrett
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

NEW RULE CLAMPS DOWN ON LOOK-ALIKE DRUGS

NEWPORT NEWS -- Oregano masquerading as marijuana. Sugar as cocaine. 
An over-the-counter pill as Ecstasy.

A new school system rule in Newport News, approved by the School 
Board Wednesday night, prohibits the distribution, sale or purchase 
of any drug look- alike substance. Also, any action that contributes 
to the possession of any look-alike substance is banned, the new rule 
says.

The School Board agreed to various amendments to its Rights and 
Responsibility Handbook that ranged from language changes to new 
disciplinary actions for misrepresentation, which includes lying and 
cheating.

The board annually reviews recommendations to update the handbook 
from a committee made up of administrators, students and community 
members. The group met last month to develop its report.

Warwick High School Principal Gene Jones, who served as the group's 
co-chairman, said that the changes to rules don't necessarily mean 
schools are encountering widespread problems in those areas.

"It's not that we are seeing a rash of look-alikes," he said. "It's 
not that we are seeing a rash of misrepresentation. You have to be 
ready for changes and be ahead of the curve so when something does 
happen you'll be ready for it."

It's difficult to say how often students are found with look-alike 
drugs. If it has happened, officials would have logged the incident 
under an "other" category listed in the handbook, Jones said.

He said he believed mostly middle schools might encounter the 
look-alike drug issue because of the "buyer not being savvy to know 
what it is and you are presenting it as such. It's the same thing as 
if it were the real thing," Jones said. "In lower grades, kids who 
are trying to experiment, unfortunately you might see that."

Another change to the handbook involves a wider range of sanctions 
for fourth-through 12th-graders who violate a rule on 
misrepresentation. The rule says students will not lie or cheat, for 
example, by making false statements, written or oral, to anyone of 
authority.

A fourth-through 12-grader used to face a penalty that ranged from a 
six-to 10-day suspension to expulsion. Now it's intervention to 
expulsion. Intervention includes such actions as detention, a 
contract with a student and parent stating how the student will 
improve his behavior and referral to a counselor.
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