Students caught with pot brownies, cookies

TAMPA - A pair of high school seniors were found carrying brownies and cookies, but sheriff's investigators said they weren't heading for a bake sale.  Instead, both were arrested for possession of marijuana on school grounds.

It happened at Wharton High School in New Tampa, after a tipster led the on-campus resource officer to investigate reports of pot-laden desserts.  When the deputy found the two 17-year olds, he also found two brownies and five cookies.  All the treats tested positive for marijuana.

"I think that very often kids might hear about something and they don't want to snitch on another kid," said Steve Hegarty with the Hillsborough County School District.  "But what we have found is that kids want to have a safe environment at school," Hegarty said, convinced that's why someone came forward to report this case.

Several students said they weren't surprised by the arrests.  A junior at Wharton High said she had been offered marijuana spiked brownies before.  Still, supervisors at the school depend on others to report wrongdoing.

 "We tell students, we tell teachers, we tell parents.  We ask them to let us know," Hegarty said.

The teenagers were taken to the juvenile detention center, and will likely be removed from Wharton High School permanently.  But they may get another chance to earn their diploma.

"We're going to sit down with the parents and we're going to try and figure out what alternatives there might be," Hegarty said.  "They ought to be able to continue their education."