Saratoga News

Redwood School students are cited in 'drug' incident

Student's parent alerted police

By Michelle Alaimo

Several Redwood Middle School students seeking a high found they might have been shortchanged after a substance they bought and believed to be marijuana turned out to most likely be oregano. Two of five students involved in the incident were cited and released Jan. 28 for the sale or furnishing of a substance falsely represented as a controlled substance.

The proposed marijuana sale was brought to the school's attention after one of the student's parents alerted school officials.

Redwood Principal Christopher Farmer said the family did the right thing by alerting the school and that because of the parent's tip, the school and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department were able to start an investigation that led to several students, ranging in age from 10 to 13, being disciplined.

"Redwood Middle School considers the sale, possession or use of controlled substances a very serious misconduct, and we've taken appropriate action," Farmer said.

The sale took place Jan. 27 when one student bought the substance, wrapped in a plastic bag, from another student during lunchtime. The substance was sent to the sheriff's department crime lab for testing and verification by Deputy Leila Sutherland, the investigating officer.

Sutherland's investigation also led to the discovery, upon a consensual search, of a pipe in one student's locker.

School resource officer Ron Breuss said the initial seller of the substance was a non-Redwood School student who is currently in custody on an unrelated probation violation. The initial sale in which the Redwood student reportedly gained possession of the substance took place off campus three weeks earlier, Breuss said.

Although the substance in question may not be marijuana, sheriff's department officials said that because all the parties involved believed it was marijuana, the incident was considered a crime.

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