Three teenagers charged in methadone school incident

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[top]By GLENN E. RICE

[top]The Kansas City Star

Three teenagers face criminal charges after nine students became ill at school from ingesting methadone earlier this week.
Authorities in Buchanan County on Friday charged a 16-year-old boy and two 13-year-old girls with delivery of a controlled substance. They remained in juvenile custody. Because they are juveniles, their names and details of the criminal charges are being withheld, said Linda Meyer, an attorney with the juvenile authorities.
One of the girls was charged with four counts and the other was charged with two counts. A detention hearing for the boy, who faces one count, was held Friday. The hearings for the girls are scheduled for Monday.
Bond is not granted in juvenile cases, Meyer said.
Authorities said Wednesday that the boy, a student at Benton High School, gave one of the girls the methadone while on a school bus. The painkiller was then distributed to other girls.
Later that morning, the girls — most of them eighth-graders — showed up at the nurse’s office at St. Joseph’s Spring Garden Middle School. All complained of grogginess and nausea, and one was excessively salivating — all side effects of ingesting methadone.
School officials said ambulances took eight of the girls to a hospital. Another girl was taken to the hospital by her parents. Some stayed overnight for observation, but all are expected to recover.
Other details were being withheld, Meyer said.
The range of punishment includes probation, or the teens could be certified to face criminal charges as adults, she said.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/541812.html