Two third graders were arrested yesterday, December 11, on felony drug charges after they were found in school carrying 16 grams of marijuana, estimated to be worth about $75. One of the students admitted that the dope, divided into 15 plastic bags, was intended for sale to other students. The 9-year-olds were released to their parents after spending one night in detention and have been suspended from school for 10 days.
"It's very easy to manipulate a child. The drug subculture will often use children to transport drugs," says Chris Stout, Phy.D., a clinical psychologist practicing in the Chicago area. "Cops don't think about kids that young doing those kinds of things." And while children of such a young age often understand that certain actions—such as selling drugs—are wrong, they do not fully understand why. "There is a certain level of abstractness to it," says Stout.
