Four Charles County high school students were cited for cannabis possession over a five-day stretch last week, the latest in a pattern of similar incidents the Sheriff’s Office has reported at county schools throughout 2026.
On Sept. 1, a 14-year-old at Thomas Stone High School was found with a THC vape and a retail-packaged bag of cannabis. Two days earlier, on Aug. 30, a 17-year-old at La Plata High School was found with cannabis, and a 15-year-old at Westlake High School was found with a THC vaping device.
On Aug. 28, school administrators at St. Charles High School recovered two retail-packaged bags of cannabis from a 16-year-old’s bookbag. All four students face juvenile citations for cannabis possession, along with disciplinary consequences under the Charles County Public Schools code of student conduct.
None of the students were named, consistent with the Sheriff’s Office’s standard practice for juvenile cases.
This is far from an isolated incident. A review of the Sheriff’s Office’s own public releases shows similar cases surfacing roughly monthly throughout the year: five students across four schools in March, including a 13-year-old; four students in May, including a 7-year-old found with a THC vape at an elementary school; a middle schooler in June; and two more high school students in late August, days before this latest cluster. Westlake High School alone has appeared in these releases three separate times in 2026.
The pattern tracks with data Charles County Public Schools officials presented at a February town hall. School leaders said overall vaping violations had declined compared with the prior year, but violations specifically involving THC vapes were climbing at the middle school level, roughly doubling over the same stretch — suggesting THC products are increasingly replacing traditional nicotine vapes as the more common item schools are recovering from students, especially younger ones.
These cases are typically resolved through the juvenile system rather than adult criminal court: students are issued civil citations, and schools rely on resource officers and student conduct policy to determine consequences, which can include disciplinary action separate from any legal outcome.
The Sheriff’s Office reiterated its standard guidance for parents: talk with children about the dangers of vapes and cannabis products, which can contain unregulated or unknown substances with unpredictable effects. Students looking for support quitting can text “DITCHVAPE” to 88709 through the Truth Initiative’s cessation program, or “VAPEFREE” to 873-373 through the Maryland Department of Health’s Vape Experiment youth program.
