LA PLATA, Md. — The Charles County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) says a plastic bag containing a substance that tested positive for morphine was found at a middle school on Friday afternoon.
According to a statement from the sheriff's office, a student at Milton Somers Middle School in La Plata "found a plastic bag containing a suspicious substance inside a classroom." Police say the student reported the bag to a teacher who then reported the discovery to administrators.
Investigators say the substance in the bag tested positive for morphine. It is unclear how the bag got into the school, the sheriff's office says.
This comes two weeks after the CCSO investigated an instance at Thomas Stone High School three teens brought THC-laced food to school and one of the students was hospitalized.
The sheriff's office praised the middle school student for reporting the bag to teachers.
"Parents are urged to talk with their children about the importance of notifying school staff or a school resource officer as soon as possible about potentially dangerous situations," the sheriff's office says.
Sandra Taylor, the principal at Milton Somers Middle School, wrote a letter to families about the incident and said the school was working with police and its SRO to investigate "any reports of drug possession of unknown substances at school." She encouraged the community to utilize the school's online resource called See Something, Say Something.
"We need our students to feel comfortable in reporting harmful or unsafe activities so we can quickly investigate, address, and resolve these matters," Taylor wrote.
Anyone with information about the bag found at the middle school should call investigators at 301-932-2222.
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