This is Grimsby --FOUR students have been excluded from a Cleethorpes school for smoking a legal high, with one claiming that the drug has "ruined my life".
Cleethorpes Academy has given four students a five-day suspension while it "investigates" after finding out they smoked legal high Sonic Boom in school grounds on Wednesday.
The school says its policy dictates that exclusions for drugs become permanent "in most cases".
Parents will be sent a letter, reiterating the school's policy on drugs, legal or illegal.
It is believed that three of the students were male and one was a 14-year-year-old girl who worries that "my life is over" unless she is allowed back to school – and fears her father has disowned her, as he is vehemently anti-drugs.
Her mother has blasted the Grimsby shop that she claims sold the legal high to her daughter's 15-year-old friend, saying that the owner has "no moral fibre".
She claims she received a torrent of "bad language" and "verbal abuse" when she phoned the shop to complain. The girl, who did not want to be named, said: "I was with the lads in the courts (where they play football) and took two or three drags out of curiosity. It's absolutely ruined my life and it didn't even have much effect – I just felt a bit drowsy.
"The boys smoked much more and they looked disgusting – their eyes were half shut and they were really pale. The teachers must have noticed because I got called out of my lesson later on.
"My dad hates drugs and when he heard about it, he was really angry. We were like best friends when we went out the night before and now he doesn't want to know me. I think I've lost him for good.
"I knew that they are dangerous and would get me in trouble – I don't know what was going through my head. If I get excluded for good then my life is over."
The Tollbar Family of Academies, which oversees Cleethorpes and Tollbar academies, has a zero-tolerance drugs policy.
In the student planner, given to all pupils on their first day, it says that possession of any drug, legal or illegal, will be "dealt with severely", adding that "in most cases this means permanent exclusion".
The only exception is for prescribed drugs with permission from the principal.
However, Cleethorpes Academy principal Martin Brown admitted their legality makes the situation more complicated.
He said: "The situation regarding these so-called 'legal highs' puts all educational establishments in a very difficult position.
"They may be legal but in our view, they are dangerous because of the risks associated with taking them and possible adverse reactions."
The excluded girl's mother now plans to launch a vendetta against the shop which she believes sold the drug to her daughter's friend.
She said: "People will know what they are up to even if I have to stand in the street with a chalk board around my neck."
The Grimsby Telegraph cannot name the shop for legal reasons but it is the same one that sold similar substance Clockwork Orange to our reporter in April.
We bought that drug to show just how easy it was after the North East Lincolnshire Substance Abuse Team (Nest) warned that legal highs have caused unconsciousness, fitting and problems with pulse rate and blood pressure in some young people.
Clockwork Orange cost just £10 for a gram and despite being labelled as "toxic", the shop assistant openly talked of its effect when smoked, comparing it to cannabis. Sonic Boom is sold for the same price.
The girl's mother added: "Kids think it is OK because it's legal but you don't know what is in it or what damage it could do in the future.
"Something needs to change because it is unbelievable that this stuff can be bought by children in shops.
"Two years ago, M-Cat was legal to buy and look how harmful that was to young people.
"The problem is that as soon as one thing is banned, they just start selling another."
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