High schooler ends pro-marijuana speech in high fashion, is arrested

[scandal 951]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...,0,470295.story

High schooler ends pro-marijuana speech in high fashion, is arrested

June 7, 2009

TACOMA, Wash. - The teachers wanted persuasive. And they got it.

At the end of his speech Tuesday urging legalization of marijuana, a 17-year-old Peninsula High School student pulled out a joint, lit it and smoked away. Then he ate the remains.

For that he got a quick escort to the school office and then a ride to Remann Hall juvenile jail.

The stunt was celebrated among some of the teen's peers but was frowned on, to say the least, by law-enforcement officers and district administrators.

"We believe in freedom of speech and encourage it, but illegal activities are absolutely not going to be tolerated in our district," schools Superintendent Terry Bouck said.

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said, "If people want that law changed, they need to go about it the right way."

The teen, who is not being identified because he has not been charged with a crime, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful drug possession, a misdemeanor.

He later was released and could not be reached for comment.

Deputies will forward their reports to prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges.

The trouble started when the student -- who has a 3.7 grade-point average -- presented his essay Tuesday morning during a monthly gathering called "Rhetoric Revels," which celebrates student work in English classes.

The student made his case for the legalization of marijuana and then went for a big finish.

"At the end of his speech, he pulled out a marijuana joint, lit it and began to smoke it," Bouck said.

One student present for the teen's speech said it was well-argued and sincerely moved many students.

"The student was making a statement towards [what he felt was] the arbitrary taboo our society places on marijuana use," the 17-year-old junior wrote in a comment on a local newspaper's Web site. "He took action in what he believes. ... I do not condone the action, but I commend the passion."

-- Stacey Mulick,

McClatchy/Tribune News

[alienlovechild 75]

At the end of his speech Tuesday urging legalization of marijuana, a 17-year-old Peninsula High School student pulled out a joint, lit it and smoked away. Then he ate the remains.

That was pretty dumb.

That's nothing. I remember being a high school speech class where a student demonstrated how to shoot up with a hypo. The teacher thought it was in poor taste but the student wasn't punished.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Chopf##k.