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Marijuana gumballs at Howard High attract DEA
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The yellow gumballs from Howard High School which were stuffed with marijuana.
But stuffed in the so-called “Greenades” was something that caught the attention of federal drug enforcement agents: marijuana.
“It’s a new idea and it’s new to the DEA,” said Gregory Lee, a retired supervisory special agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency, who had never heard of anyone packaging marijuana in such a way before. “When it comes to drug-dealing, you’re only limited by your imagination.”
The DEA recently released an intelligence bulletin about the gumballs, which Howard County police say were confiscated from Ellicott City’s Howard High in January.
“We’ve not seen anything like this before,” said Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn. “If the DEA thinks it’s enough for an intelligence bulletin to come out, then it’s important. This is the only case of this we’ve seen in Howard County for sure.”
County police said they charged three 17-year-old students at Howard High this year in the incident after a teacher alerted a school resource officer.
On Jan. 11, the teacher told the officer that she saw a student give a small plastic bag that she believed contained drugs to another student. The police officer contacted the student and seized the bag, which contained two small “candy balls” wrapped in foil containing marijuana, police said.
Police charged two students at the school with distribution of drugs on school property and a third with possession of marijuana.
Howard County police turned the gumballs over to Maryland State Police, whose Forensic Sciences Division Laboratory in Pikesville determined each gumball contained approximately one gram of marijuana.
The instructions on the foil of the gumballs told users to chew for 30 minutes to one hour “before you would like receive your high” and to “chew for as long as possible, then swallow.”
Maryland State Police said it was the first time they had encountered “Greenades,” according to the DEA intelligence report.
lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com
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9:51 AM MST on Sat., Oct. 4, 2008 re: "Drug dealers target youth with 'cheese'"
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say no to drugs said:
you will pay the qonsequences if you do drugs.
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Random anti drug personell said:
This guy is an idiot. He shouldnt use drugs studies show...
0 agree | 3 disagree
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adiab3tic said:
the only way to solve virtually every problem about this is to legalize it and make similar laws as the tobacco or alcohol laws, because right now it is harder to get alcohol than pot. Making the punishment worse for possession and sale shouldnt be more harsh, but less. If you put a young kid in jail for dealing pot, when he gets out, what is going to do, hes gonna get out of jail with no education, and hes got a criminal record. How do you think hell get a job and straight up his life without those two things, the only thing he will be able to do is deal drugs, so hell deal again with a better idea of how to not get caught. 89% of people in prison for marijuana crimes were sentenced for possession of small amounts. Thats rediculous when a drug dealer goes to jail for life when rapists and child molesters get back out on the streets. In the Netherlands, where pot is legal and widely available, there is a lower amount of marijuana use by teens. It has to be legal, bottom line.
3 agree | 0 disagree
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THE man said:
Legalize it then that will solve all of our problems...financially speaking and society.
2 agree | 0 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
there will always be a drug problem.Now that u mentioned "cheese"addicts will be asking all over town "do you got that cheese".the dealers will try to become manufacturers so they can claim to be the first ones on the block with "cheese".its only gonna get worse,sorry to tell ya.
259 agree | 290 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
that is sad people do that kind of stuff.And that kids whant thier friends to go through the pain of doing that cheese crap!!!!bye!!ttut
255 agree | 253 disagree
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Karl Chue said:
Pass more laws regulating pharmacies. Make it harder to obtain prescription drugs: with background checks, mandatory waiting periods, registration of all authorized drug users, etc. After all, if only one life can be saved, anyone who needs prescription drugs can put up with these "inconveniences".
280 agree | 297 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Adopt the laws that Singapore has on the books. If you are caught smugling drugs you are immediately sentence to death. There is no parole or probation. If you are sentence to 30 years you do 30 years. There is no time off for good behavior. We are spending all this money fighting other peoples problems when we should be using those resources to fight our own problems.
282 agree | 289 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Police can't deter drug use, only the average person can. Don't accept drug use or sales in your area. ZERO TOLERANCE - Report drug dealers and users.
295 agree | 308 disagree
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