Pot smell ends prom for Brighton teen

[PoliticalChic]

BRIGHTON — Pot ruined her prom. Now 18-year-old Sarah Heideman wants the school district she says turned her away from the dance to pay for her dress, her dinner, her hair and her tickets.

It's an unusual request from someone who was apparently turned away for smelling like marijuana.

But clearly this is an unusual case, a case that calls into question the public's acceptance of the state's medical marijuana registry.

"It was so humiliating," explained Heideman on Wednesday as she, her boyfriend, and an attorney discussed the incident outside of Brighton High School.

"I was not allowed inside," she said.

Saturday night, Heideman and her date Jason Schweinsberg attempted to go into Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver for the Brighton High School Prom.

That's when someone at the door apparently smelled marijuana. It's unclear who exactly turned the couple away. Heideman says a Brighton High School Resource Officer did. A Brighton Police Department spokesperson says that's not true, that a school official did. And a spokesperson for the school district says a Denver Police officer did. DPD was called to the scene because the prom was being held in Denver.

Regardless, it's clear the couple never made it inside.

That's despite the fact that Schweinsberg, 20, is currently allowed to use marijuana under the state's medical marijuana program. On Wednesday, he said he uses it to deal with intense pain that stems from a serious traffic accident, an accident which left him with, among other things, a fractured skull.

Pot smell ends prom for Brighton teen - The Denver Post

Does the girl have a case? The boyfriend had a prescription for marijuana.

 

[Father Time]

Not sure, are there any attorneys are USMB or did we manage to scare all of them off?

 

[007]

Not sure, are there any attorneys are USMB or did we manage to scare all of them off?

Jillian is a lawyer.

But I'd say she doesn't have a case. No one forced her to attend this function. She did it of her own free will and accord. If she didn't make it inside... tough. The was no guarantees.

 

[editec]

Denial of entry into a semi-public affair (which is what a school dance is, open to the public who are eligible as students) IS a violation of her rights.

She should sue and I hope to hell she wins big time.

 

[xotoxi]

Does the girl have a case? The boyfriend had a prescription for marijuana.

At least in my state, there is actually no prescription for marijuana, but a letter from the physician stating that marijuana is recommended. The amount of marijuana that can be used by the patient is limited, and it is to be consumed in the patients home.

Clearly, they are not allowed to share the marijuana with others.

And this letter helps the patient avoid prosecution and arrest. It is not a free ticket into a prom. The school can do anything that they want.

 

[xotoxi]

Denial of entry into a semi-public affair (which is what a school dance is, open to the public who are eligible as students) IS a violation of her rights.

She should sue and I hope to hell she wins big time.

So if she showed up smelling of alcohol she should be allowed in?

Or say she is 18 and her BF is 21. And he is drunk.

In? No?

A school dance in a public school is not a public affair. The school as the authority to deny entrance as admission to the dance is not a right and is not an educational event.