Chief of Police, William A. Powell, graduate of the Aurora University School of Management
Boy charged with felony for carrying sugar — This is one of the most amazing stories I’ve ever read. The city officials in Aurora should be ashamed of themselves and I hope the city gets sued into oblivion.
And does this drug-lookalike law mean that every housewife in Aurora can be busted for the sugar jar? What about the grocery stores? Talk about shades of the Soviet Union. Everything is illegal.
A 12-year-old Aurora boy who said he brought powdered sugar to school for a science project this week has been charged with a felony for possessing a look-alike drug, Aurora police have confirmed.
The sixth-grade student at Waldo Middle School was also suspended for two weeks from school after showing the bag of powdered sugar to his friends.
The boy, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, said he brought the bag to school to ask his science teacher if he could run an experiment using sugar.
Two other boys asked if the bag contained cocaine after he showed it to them in the bathroom Wednesday morning, the boy’s mother said.
He joked that it was cocaine, before telling them, “just kidding,” she said.
On the Aurora Police homepage the Chief welcomes phone calls and emails. I wonder how long that will last?
found by Kevin
Good thing they weren’t building volcanos, he would have got life for carrying the little baggie of baking-soda.
That happened to me when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. It was Mike and Ike and I joked that it was drugs. I was sent to the principal and was almost suspended. That was in the late 80’s. I remember feeling like everyone was really making a big deal out of it. Looking back on it it seems really really stupid.
This just shows that Wayne & Garth were the intellectual giants of Aurora, Illinois. Party Time!
Another endless “war” carried out by American authorities takes an innocent victim. This time the “war on drugs” nails a 12-year-old for “holding” sugar.
If the history of official US attitudes over the past few years were in a novel nobody would believe it.
This one really rankles because of the pressure the US has been putting on Canada not to decriminalize marijuana.
No wonder the rest of humanity is PO’d at the US and laughs at it at the same time.
Are Americans ever going to “get it”?
They should all be ashamed.
Perhaps the Police should be arrested for possessing a BRAIN look-alike!
From the article:
“Look-alike drugs and substances can cause that same level of danger because staff and students are not equipped to differentiate between the two.”
Quick, somebody equip them with a brain to tell the difference!
This is just the logical consequence of earlier lookalike rule enforcements, e.g.: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=909
It is in the nature of slippery slopes that these stories are going to become more and more ridiculous.
Years ago, traveling with the band, we were stopped by the police. Though not drunk, we had had a couple of beers. We had also eaten some sandwiches a mother had packed for us; it was a long drive. We spent the night in jail because there were a couple of bread crumbs in the bags. (we didn’t throw the empty bags out the window) The prosecutor declined to press charges because the “amount of drugs was too insignificant”. He wanted us to sign an agreement that we would never again do illegal drugs. Not one of the four of signed. Buddy’s mother was a lawyer, she spoke to the prosecutor over the phone and we were released without further delay.
OK OK I blame the boneheaded school administration too
BUT…
Isn’t this what you get with “zero tolerance” policies. The opponents of zero-tolerance policies warned us that stuff like this would happen. They were mocked at the time but what this predicted is coming true.
Greg
Yes, this is what you get with ‘Zero Tolerance”. The whole concept of discretion is ignored. In the School’s zeal to show they are intolerant towards drugs, and I assume weapons, in the school, they have now traumatized and stigmatized this kid. He is 12 yrs old. Maybe he has some street smarts, but with this on his record, surely now he won’t be graduating. I suspect that maybe this kid was marked already.
I don’t think that I would relish being the Aurora Police OR the School District right now. Not only do they look bad, but the parents probably have a good case to make for some big bucks. Defending this will take money better spent on Police patrols and in the classrooms. That plus it will be a big distraction of many people trying to do their job.
Isn’t zero tolerance supposed to apply to actual drugs and guns? Zero tolerance does not automatically dictate blind absolutist solutions. The school and the police department screwed up. They should admit it and determine what could have been done in the future to prevent them from screwing up. Perhaps have the student inform the science teacher before he brings something in that he would be bringing a drug-looking substance to school and the science teacher can then inform the principal and the Keystone Cops. I’d almost feel sorry for the school if I had been the kid’s parents. I’d have made them look the like the total fools that they were until they publicly admitted the mistake and provided a solution that still enables zero tolerance for actual illegal drugs and still enables a kid to bring some sugar to school.
Aren’t schools supposed to be institutions of learning?
Felony? Carrying a “drug look-alike” is a felony? This is insane! Anyone convicted of a felony is denied the right to own a firearm, the right to vote, and can never hold a federal job. Forever!
In some states a third felony conviction can place you in prison for the rest of your life.
For carrying powdered sugar?
I’m guessing it was granular sugar. This rule would also apply to salt, Splenda, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch and many grades of flour. Welcome to Fascist USA, from what I can tell every person in the country is in violation and a potential felon — if they want to bust you, that is.
This is a proof that many people are content solving easy, rather than difficult, problems. Plain fear. Cops would rather bust a 12 yo with sugar, but are afraid to tackle smugglers and dealers.
This kid obviously knew enough about drugs to joke about the substance and that’s the end of the that story. For all we know he was going to sell the sugar as cocaine and that’s the reason this is a felony. Making an example out of this kid is a good idea and the police shoudl be applauded. Lives are at risk after all.
dudly-do-right
Ya, right.
You want to tell me that any kid trying to buy cocaine has no idea what it is like?
Cocaine is a very bitter substance. Powdered sugar is quite sweet.
Cocaine usually has small crystals, lumps, and powder in it, not a consistent texture. Both powdered and granular sugar have consistent textures.
Making a joke and correcting it among 12 yr olds is a felony? The conversation was overheard by the janitor. The joke was not to him. Apparently he didn’t hear the entire conversation.
If you even read the article the boy said it was cocaine (jokingly according to him). This is what makes it “Look-alike drug”. This is something you don’t joke about especially in school. This falls under having your finger in you pocket saying it’s a gun. Should the felony charges be dropped? Yes. Should the school suspend him? Yes.
Glad to see Nazi’s are reading the blog too…we’re for diversity.
The fact is this is a travesty of justice.
Zero Tolerance = Zero Judgement = Zero Brains. It’s just another moniker for stupidity in the public sector.
Would a sugar high draw a kid any hard-time.
Will
That was a good one, I’m still chuckling. As serious as this case is, I really appreciated your humor.
Children are no longer allowed to do what was once considered normal childhood things – having a childhood crush is sexual harassment, playing tag is aggressive, playing cops and robbers, cowboys and indians will produce murderers, and look out if a child should try to snip another child’s hair with the blunted tip scissors you were asked to supply at school – you may be asked to take them for a pysch eval to insure the child is not harborin underlying homicidal tendancies. We are breeding a sick, sick society. There is something wrong when the innocents are the ones typically persecuted and prosecuted yet the instances with strong warning signs go unnoticed.
That is just stupid. i’m 39 and i have never heard such a stupid mistake!!!!!!!!!! they should be sued for what they all own!
Though this is ridiculous and apparently what our society has come to as I have personally heard of a friend being pulled over for using nasal spray and being accused of snorting cocaine in traffic none-the-less why was this boy showing the sugar to friends? If it was for a science project was it a need to say hey guys look at my bag of sugar or was it look at this bag of cocaine? Obviously hes gonna say and his friends would back him up that he was joking but thats only cuz he got caught. Very dumb that this became a police issue but unless instructed to bring a bag of any powder to school by his teacher this just shows poor lack of judgment on the kids part and probably does deserve a punishment through the school!