She wasn't happy about it, but she believed he was using the drug responsibly. But before Karen had a chance to do anything about the principal's advice, one of Bill's teachers caught him smoking marijuana in the school parking lot with one of his friends. Karen says she was called back to the school and given an ultimatum. The principal at Bill's school would neither confirm nor deny Karen's account. School drug policies vary by state and district.
Schools usually have discretion to suspend or expel students who are caught with drugs.
Some simply require a student caught with drugs to go in for an assessment. Though schools are a primary culprit in pushing youths into unneeded treatment, parents do their share too. They're afraid their kids are going to end up like David Kennedy and die of heroin or something. Just ask Al Levesque, who says his mother forced him to enter three separate rehab clinics in Connecticut over a three-year period, beginning at age 14. He was admitted for marijuana use every time, despite the fact that he used the drug moderately.