Nine-year-old inadvertently narcs out mom after cannabis found in coat

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A teacher at Steele Elementary School in the Illinois community of Galesburg got a green surprise when a 9-year-old student handed over a baggie of cannabis she had earlier found the pocket of her mother’s coat.

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According to the Galesburg Register-Mail, the young girl, who was wearing her mother’s coat, fessed up to her teacher after recess that she something in her pocket that she wasn’t supposed to.

Recreational cannabis is legal in the state, and has been since last year, but only for those 21 and older.

If an adult, the law allows for the cultivation, trafficking, sale or possession of a small amount of marijuana, reports Find Law. State residents 21 and older can buy up to an ounce (28 grams) of dried flower and as much as five grams of cannabis concentrates, the information notes.

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Possession of 30 to 100 grams of weed is treated as a misdemeanour for a first offence, but is a felony for any subsequent offence. The latter can result in one to three years in jail and a US$25,000 ($32,250) fine, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Although the cannabis was simply in the coat pocket and had not been delivered, Illinois law, nonetheless, allows for charges if cannabis is delivered on school grounds. While delivery of less than 2.5 grams is a misdemeanour punishable by a maximum US$2,500 ($3,225) fine and prison for up to a year, bringing 30 to 50 grams on the grounds could lead to three to seven years in prison and a US$100,000 ($129,000) fine, NORML reports. As for delivery of weed to a minor, this could result in a doubling of the maximum prison term.

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Upon responding to the school, police spoke to both an administrator and teacher, per the Galesburg Register-Mail. The baggie’s contents were field tested and proved positive for 1.1 grams of cannabis.

WGIL reports that the incident represents the second time in about a month that drugs were found on an elementary school student in the district.

The officers are said to have reported the incident to the Department of Children and Family Services.

People have landed in hot water after trying to hide cannabis in children’s belongings in past. Consider the Wisconsin man who was charged with possessing cannabis and neglecting a child after police allege he tried to hide some weed in his two-year-old daughter’s coat pocket.

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