High School Newspaper Confiscated For Marijuana Content

EVANSTON, IL — Administrators at Evanston Township High School confiscated an issue of the student newspaper last month, saying it glorified drug use, drug dealing and promoted illegal conduct. At a meeting of the District 202 school board last week, the student journalists and first amendment legal advocates argued that the school may have violated state law by failing to show justification before confiscating the paper, which included a two-page spread focusing on marijuana use and policy.

"Marijuana is a part of student culture here, and we decided to take advantage of our free speech as a part of the Evanston community. We decided to use our student platform to professionally report on a relevant topic," said The Evanstonian Online Executive Editor Margo Levitan at a board meeting Oct. 9. "We are not promoting marijuana usage...we hope that Evanston's message of free speech would apply to student voices as well, even if the subject is considered taboo."

"I was really disappointed with the lack of explanation we received after the paper was confiscated I was told I had to talk to my teacher or that I had to jump through multiple hoops to get an explanation, which seemed kind of crazy" said Katy Donati, an executive editor who described the move to take the papers as "unfair and inexcusable." She said the paper's staff tried to set up a time with the administration to get an explanation but "no response was given."

"It was frustrating that we sat down that morning with an administration member, showed them the 'In-Depth', and they OK'd it, and then to have it taken just a couple hours later was just really confusing," Donati said. "Then not being given an explanation was just really heartbreaking, especially knowing all the work that every single writer put into the stories."

Michael Colton, executive editor, said the Illinois Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act clearly lays out the only justifications for school administrators to seize student newspapers. He said the articles in question did not incite students to commit an unlawful act, violate district policies or substantially disrupt the orderly operation of the school.

"All stories printed were of student voice, we surveyed students, we got their opinions on the matter, there were no editorials inviting students to use marijuana to romanticizing the use of marijuana in any way," Colton said, asking the board to have the issue redistributed.

Colton pointed out the law says school officials had the burden of justifying such censorship "without undue delay," but only offered a meeting to discuss the matter three weeks after it was due to be delivered.

Executive director of the Community Lawyer Citizen Advocacy Center, Maryam Judar, also spoke at last week's meeting. She said the administration had not provided any facts that would warrant the restrictions of the students' expression.

"They can't rely on undifferentiated fear and apprehension as a justification," Judar sad. "The school must be able to show that its action was caused by something more than just a mere desire to avoid discomfort or unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint or a controversial topics." She said it appeared school authorities seized the papers to avoid controversial expression, which is illegal under state law.

"I want to make it clear that our purpose in printing these stories was to try to discover why so many students smoked or used marijuana. Our purpose was not to promote usage or encourage any students or to condone illegal activity," said News Editor Trinity Collins. "We received very little if any information about why it was confiscated."

The two page spread, entitled "The Pot Thickens...", included articles on pending legislation to legalize recreational cannabis use and its financial impact on the state, medical marijuana and causes of student marijuana use. It also included results of a student survey and an anonymous interview with a drug dealer.

District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon later provided a complete explanation of the reasons the paper was confiscated:

On September 22, 2017, the Evanston Township High School (ETHS) student newspaper published a series of articles under the heading The Pot Thickens… The two-page spread features six articles, including 6 Questions for a Drug Dealer and School Stress Causes Marijuana Usage. Both articles promote illegal conduct that also violates school policy. For example, the Drug Dealer article states that a reason to sell marijuana is to make money, as much as one hundred-sixty dollars per ounce. The School Stress article states that using marijuana makes a student funnier and more confident. The article goes on to state that a “feeling of euphoria and bliss” is caused by a chemical in marijuana.

Dr. Marcus Campbell, Principal of ETHS, collaborated with the ETHS administrative team and legal counsel in reviewing the published articles. Dr. Campbell determined that the articles glorify both drug use and drug dealing, messages that are detrimental to ETHS students.

The U.S. Constitution and the Illinois Speech Right of Student Journalists Act both provide student journalists with certain rights to speech that ETHS celebrates. Those rights are limited. When student journalism incites unlawful acts, violation of school policy, or disrupts the school, the administration has the authority to impose limits. The articles on September 22, 2017 did cross these lines and were removed from circulation for that reason.

In the offending interview, the anonymous drug dealer is also quoted as having been robbed at gunpoint and claimed to sell about once a month after buying cannabis on the dark web.

The offending article begins, "Although marijuana can be damaging to their health, many students overlook the risks and smoke weed anyway because they enjoy the simplicity and bliss that comes with it." The same article's portion cited by administrators mentioning a "feeling of euphoria and bliss" cites the National Institute of Drug Abuse and is followed by mentioning "the negative effects of marijuana: increase of heart rate, causes lung cancer, decrease in motivation, and affects memory."

The spread also included articles not cited by administrators. One examines current efforts in the Illinois General Assembly to legalize recreational cannabis. Another takes a look at teens seeking medical marijuana.

Members of the paper's editorial staff met with school administrators Oct. 13, where they were notified they would be allowed to publish the articles if they were modified to include warnings about the dangers of marijuana usage, the Student Press Law Center reported.

The District 202 board is set to discuss the matter publicly at its next meeting, Oct. 23.

Watch as Evanstonian student journalists and local first amendment advocates speak at the Oct. 9 District 202 Board of Education meeting during public comment:

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