Pot-Smoking Student Attracts World Attention

Posted: 4:49 pm PDT June 5, 2009

GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- A South Sound high school student who smoked marijuana while giving a school presentation about legalizing the drug is getting words of support -- and criticism -- from around the world.The student, 17-year-old Ian Barry, is seen in a video posted on YouTube lighting up a joint and smoking it during an assembly of 150 students Tuesday at Peninsula High School. He was arrested and suspended afterward.Speaking with KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty, Barry said he decided to smoke long before he gave the speech."I thought about the consequences and talked to teachers, so I knew what was going to happen," he said.He spoke to KIRO 7 by phone, saying he couldn't meet in person because his license had been taken away by his parents.Thousands of bloggers have posted words of support online, and Barry's essay -- a lengthy, extensively researched history of American marijuana laws -- drew thousands of viewers Friday to KIROTV.com. The original story that McCarty first broke on KIROTV.com contains hundreds of comments, positive and negative.Barry is a hero to some fellow students, whether they agree with his politics or not."He had a lot of guts to do that, and I think it's really cool," said student Alice Rowson.Barry told McCarty that the act was about making a point, not getting attention."Whether you agree with me or not that marijuana should be legal, I hope you see and respect that I stood on principle and stood up for something I believe in," Barry said.