Three MHS students arrested after drug search

Three Mitchell High School students were arrested on drug charges Friday after the South Dakota Highway Patrol brought four drug dogs in for a check.

The three people arrested were males ages 16, 17 and 18.

Highway Patrol Trooper John Lord declined to release the names of the juveniles and said the 18-year-old’s name is being temporarily withheld because the investigation is ongoing.

One was cited for distribution of a controlled substance, another for possession of a controlled sub-stance, and the other for two misdemeanor drug charges, Lord said.

The drug dogs found marijuana and a substance that is marketed as incense but is used as synthetic marijuana. The items were found in the suspects’ lockers.

April 20, the date of the arrests, is known in the drug community as “Weed Day,” a day when many in the drug culture smoke large amounts of marijuana. The pronunciation of the date, “4-20,” matches the pronunciation of a code word for smoking pot.

“The earliest use of the term began among a group of teenagers in San Rafael, Calif., in 1971,” according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. “... [The group designated] 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time ... which ultimately evolved into a code word that the teens used to mean pot-smoking in general.”

Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Graves said the use of the dogs was not brought on by a tip, but is something the school coordinates with law enforcement one to five times per school year.

The high school was on lockdown during the time the dogs were in the building.

“We do that because the court system doesn’t want the dogs smelling the students or teachers,” Graves said. “That way, the dogs can be in the locker area and not interrupted.”

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