North Kingstown Mom Puts Child's Lunch Money in Bag with Pot Residue: Police

A North Kingstown mother blamed her ex-boyfriend’s marijuana growing operation for the pot residue a cafeteria worker found in a plastic bag containing her child’s lunch money at Fishing Cove Elementary School last week.

Police said they were dispatched to the school on Feb. 27 after a report of a suspicious green substance found in a plastic bag.

According to a police report, the classroom teacher collected money from three students for lunch at the beginning of the school day. Two of the students provided loose change and the third gave money that was contained in the bag.

All the money then was put into a vinyl purse and zipped closed before it went to a collection bin.

Later, just before lunch, a cafeteria worker started counting the money when she noticed a green dusty substance coating the coins in the aforementioned plastic bag.

The green dust smelled like marijuana and she contacted her supervisor who then collected the green stuff on a piece of paper and brought it to the principal’s office.

Police were then called. A field test confirmed the substance was marijuana and police contacted the parent, identified as a 31-year-old North Kingstown woman.

The mother said that she picked up a “random bag that was in her apartment” and put the money in it. She said that her ex-boyfriend was living in the apartment but as of December 2014, he had since moved out.

“According to [the mother,]” a police report stated, “[the ex-boyfriend] had a legal caregiver card to grow marijuana at the residence. [She] stated that she does not use drugs and there is no drugs in the residence at this time.”

No charges were filed.