Maybe they thought too hard about his last name and got confused?

Seriously, though, this is insane. I get the concept (though don't necessarily support it) of banning imitation weapons (though schools have taken that waaaaaay too far), because they can be used to scare or intimidate other kids, but what is the perceived harm of a bag of oregano? Unless he's selling it to other kids, which is a whole different offense. It was a stupid thing to do, deliberately provoking the administrators, but punish the kids for that, not for showing up to school well-supplied for a nice marinara.

Didn't we see this in "A Few Good Men"? Yes, we did.

Kaffee: Dave you seem distraught.
Lieutenant Dave Spradling: We were supposed to meet in your office 15 minutes ago to talk about the McDermont case. You're stalling on this one. We get this done right now, or I mean it, Kaffee, I'm going to hang your boy from a fuckin' yardarm!
Kaffee: Yardarm? Sherby, does the Navy still hang people from Yardarms?
Lt. Sherby: I don't think so.
Kaffee: Dave, Sherby doesn't think the Navy hangs people yardarms anymore.
Lieutenant Dave Spradling: I'm going to charge him with possession and being under the influence while on duty. You plead guilty I recommend 30 days in the brig with loss of rank and pay.
Kaffee: It was oregano, Dave. It was 10 dollars worth of oregano.
Lieutenant Dave Spradling: Yeah, but your client thought it was marijuana.
Kaffee: My client's a moron that's not against the law.
Lieutenant Dave Spradling: Kaffee, I have people to answer to just like you do. I'm going to charge him.
Kaffee: With what? Possession of a condiment?
Lieutenant Dave Spradling: Kaffee...
Kaffee: Look, Dave, I tried to help you out of this but if you ask for jail time I'm going to file a motion to dismiss.
Kaffee: You won't get it.
Kaffee: I will get it. And if the MTD is denied I'll file a motion in limine seeking an evidentary ruling in advance and then I'm going to file against pretrial confinement and you're going to spend the next three months going blind on paperwork because a Signalman Second Class bought and smoked a dime bag of oregano.
Lieutenant Dave Spradling: B misdemeanor 20 days in the brig.
Kaffee: C misdemeanor 15 days restricted duty.

Patrick that was awesome!

So...going to school is like joining the military, except you don't have a Uniform Code of Military Justice to go by?

Hers the problem, y'all are jumping to conclusions about the schools and the administration, with out all of the information. Check the state laws, here is Nevada's

NRS 453.321 Offer, attempt or commission of unauthorized act relating to controlled or counterfeit substance unlawful; penalties; prohibition against probation or suspension of sentence for certain repeat offenders.

1. Except as authorized by the provisions of NRS 453.011 to 453.552, inclusive, it is unlawful for a person to:

(a) Import, transport, sell, exchange, barter, supply, prescribe, dispense, give away or administer a controlled or counterfeit substance;

(b) Manufacture or compound a counterfeit substance; or

(c) Offer or attempt to do any act set forth in paragraph (a) or (b).

As you can see counterfeit substances offered or possessed are treated as the real thing, ie "Dude look what I have, is a crime. You can search the NRS, I thought it was about fake Viagra and other "legit" drugs, but it covers ALL controlled substances and administrators, have to pass it on to the cops and impose school consequences,

If these folks are so stupid, why do they want MORE control:

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2011/03/do-your-part-to.html

BTW, not saying it is right, just might be a matter of law. Personally, It would have made my job easier to not call LE on fake drugs

Piper --

You DO realize that the school laundry has boxes and boxes of imitation cocaine, right?

Soap powder.

What idiots. And they must shout their idiocy to the heavens!

Patrick beat me to it! DAMN!

I think that it's fair to assume that the unstated policy of these schools is simply to kick out anyone who gives them any pretext. It's not really a disciplinary policy. It's attrition. The teachers and administrators don't want the responsibility of having to manage kids, so they're finding excuses to kick them out whenever they can. Why else would you even think of expelling a kid for something as stupid as this.

Piper, that law would only be applicabe if they boys were trying to pass it off as a controlled substance.

As they were passing it back and forth with out the intent of giving it to an unknowing third party any hack job night school lawyer will get this kicked.

"As you can see counterfeit substances offered or possessed are treated as the real thing"

I'm fairly certain those laws only apply to counterfeits of branded drugs. If the kid had a bottle of fake Valium pills made to resemble the real thing, there'd be no question. But given that the law fails to define under what circumstances oregano is to be considered a counterfeit substance, I'm pretty sure a decent lawyer could get this thrown out. Otherwise, a strict reading of the law would make illegal the possession of a whole lot of ordinary foodstuffs, including oregano, parsley, cilantro, powdered sugar, and Coca-Cola syrup.

I think the whole thing with the oregano is ridiculous anyway. Anyone who has ever been around both can smell the difference between oregano and marijuana right off. When I was in high school, I knew of a few guys who tried the oregano trick. None of the teachers was ever fooled for a minute.

I did originally assume the laws were to apply to things like fake Valium and other branded pills but the same section also deals with illegal drugs and the courts have held that if a student presents oregano to another as pot it is covered.
Like I said, not something I would do, but when I was administrating, I had to operate under that law.
If I had my way and the law did not exist, I would give the kid who brought it a couple of days in school suspension, for disturbance of school,and bring all parents in to explain why it is not a good idea to bring even fake drugs to school:

1. Other students have been known to beat up kids for smoke, drugs, booze, any contraband they bring to school. After having to work to steal the drugs, finding it to be fake would earn the kid another beating
2. sometimes gangs have staked out the school as their territory and they can take exception to anybody dealing on their turf.

Oregano is a gateway drug. It leads to spaghetti and then to lasagna; and fettucini, linguini, and even pizza.

Let them have oregano and next thing you know, carb-crazed kids are running wild in our schools.

====================

This poor kid may have to change his name ... to 'snotgrass.

The kids got in trouble for the wrong reason, but they should have gotten in trouble. Kids are kids and do stupid things. They all go through a degree of rebellion. I'm pretty relaxed as a parent but I do draw the line with disrespect to teachers and school personnel. These kids were laughing at the rules and finding a way to flaunt them and make fools of the teachers. Ten days is extreme and nobody deserves expulsion, but they do need to know that joke's over and by the way, enjoy detention. How funny is that?

"And before you know it, you'll be doing thyme."

Go to your room.

"And before you know it, you'll be doing thyme."
-Amy

Go to your room.
-Steve Daniels

So, now we're punishing punners?

They just seem like dillweeds to me...

Luj, stop trying to curry favor.

I think what they really need is some very sage advice....

Well this being my first allspice pun, it is my beyleaf that you all find it a bit more savory. After the chilie reception I recived over my first pun defending the ginger, I hope I didnt get carawyed and go a little overboard.

So lets all be cherivl, or should I be maced?

Well, I know when I was in high school, if you sold someone an aspirin and called it X, they punished you like it was X. But, the guy that held it exactly 30 seconds should not have been punished in any way.

What happened to the good old days of a head slap, a stern talking too and some grueling work!

Then a second go around by mom and dad!

Then another round by other family members!

Plus maybe some extra damnation and punishment from your local priest/pastor.

Usually by the end the kid has shaped up a bit or it is a damn long time before the kid does something stupid again.