ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 28, 1996 TAG: 9611290033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
Police have filed charges against three Bedford Middle School eighth-graders for possessing or distributing the prescription stimulant Ritalin. The three boys charged, along with a fourth boy, also were suspended from school last week.
Two 13-year-old boys face charges of Ritalin distribution and a 14-year-old faces a charge of Ritalin possession, Bedford Police Chief Milton Graham said. Charges have not been filed against another 13-year-old boy who also was suspended from school in the incident. The boys' names are being withheld because they are juveniles.
The suspensions and pending arrests are the first related to Ritalin in the Bedford County public school system, Superintendent of Schools John Kent said. Ritalin, a pill which is most often prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, also is a popular street drug among high school and college students, usually swallowed or ground up and snorted.
One of the middle school students charged in the incident had a prior prescription for the drug and brought "a handful of pills" in a container from home, according to Edward Williams, the Bedford Middle School assistant principal.
Williams said a teacher observed a student with the drug, and alerted school officials and police. An investigation revealed that the boys were allegedly involved in a plot to distribute the drug further, although none of the boys apparently intended to use it, he said.
All four boys were given five days of out-of-school suspension, but two of the five days may be served in a drug-and-alcohol awareness program.
The parents of the boys have been "cooperative and very concerned," Williams said, including the mother of the boy who brought the pills to school.
"I think it's all a lesson learned," Williams said. "I think she's learned a lesson that you should get rid of medication if it's not being used."
Bedford County school policy prohibits students from taking prescription drugs in school without a note from a parent. The drugs are kept in school offices or clinics and are distributed by a school nurse or secretary according to the parent's instructions, Kent said.
By some federal estimates, Ritalin is prescribed to as many as 60 percent to 90 percent of children diagnosed with ADD. It is classified as a Schedule II narcotic, meaning that refills are not allowed, and orders must be reported to the federal government. Distributing Ritalin without a prescription is punishable by up to 40 years in prison for adults.
The drug can be lethal if abused, especially when combined with alcohol. A Roanoke teen died in 1995 after snorting the drug at a party.
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