The morning after 500 North Carroll parents, teachers and students turned out for a community drug awareness forum, three students at the local middle school were arrested for alleged marijuana offenses.
Early Friday, some students reported to the school administration that a seventh-grade boy was selling marijuana to two classmates, said Donald Bell, assistant principal at North Carroll Middle School.
By early afternoon, one 12-year-old boy had been arrested by state police for sale of suspected marijuana, and two other boys were arrested for possession, Mr. Bell said. One boy was taken by police, and the other two were driven by their parents to state police barracks in Westminster, Mr. Bell said.
"Students came forward and told us they knew this was happening, and we acted appropriately," Mr. Bell said.
Police said they arrested and charged one boy with possession and possession with intent to distribute the drug on school property. He was taken to the Thomas J. S. Waxter Children's Center in Laurel.
The other two youths were charged with possession and released to their parents. Mr. Bell said he doesn't know whether the forum prompted students to report the incident.
"I hope it made students aware that it's a problem in the community," he said.
School officials announced Thursday night at the forum that they will allow random use of drug-sniffing dogs to catch and deter drug users. In the past, the dogs were used only when there was suspicion of drug possession.
Mr. Bell said that no drug-sniffing dogs were in the school Friday.