Second-graders at a Philadelphia public school passed small pink bags of crack cocaine among themselves in a classroom on Monday, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. One girl tasted the addictive substance – clueless of the danger brought into the K-through-4 school by a 7-year-old female classmate. The game of crack roulette ended when a student informed a counselor who happened to be in the classroom. The drugs were quickly confiscated, and school police officers called police. “How does a second-grader get their hands on hard drugs?” school district chief Paul Vallas demanded to know. “It’s absolutely outrageous. Are we going to start frisking second-graders? No, we are not going to start frisking second-graders. But I want to know how this happened.”
A grandmother’s house where the girl who brought the drugs lives was raided by police yesterday. Anyone found to be responsible for the drugs could face charges including endangering the welfare of a child, possession of narcotics and possession with the intent to distribute narcotics. The crack taken from the girl amounted to 0.6 grams, worth about $60. Jerry Jordan, chief of staff of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said, “This troubles me because it means parental involvement is clearly lacking.”