A high school teacher has been arrested for drug possession in Indiana after students caught her insufflating–snorting–an unknown white powder on video.
English teacher Samantha Cox can be seen in that video, taking the substance into a corner of her classroom in a poor attempt to hide the illicit form of recreation.
She appears to take a credit card and break the substance down before parceling it out into lines which she then apparently insufflates.
After recording the video, the students at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana dimed on Cox to school officials. Police arrived soon thereafter, cuffing Cox in front of her students and then escorting her out of the building.
According to the St. John Police Department, Cox’s white powder was a combination of cocaine and heroin–a drug cocktail typically referred to as a “speedball.” A potent and potentially lethal combination, notable deaths due to speedball use include comedians John Belushi, Chris Farley and Mitch Hedberg.
St. John Police Chief James Kveton praised the students who turned in their teacher, saying, via a statement: “Their actions showed a tremendous amount of fortitude and integrity and enabled staff to address the situation properly.”
John Rogers, the student who recorded the incident, spoke with the local CBS affiliate about Cox’s failed attempt at secrecy. He said: “She wasn’t at her desk where we could see her. She was all the way in the corner where she thought we can’t see her.”
Cox faces one misdemeanor charge of drug paraphernalia and one felony charge of drug possession.
[image via Lake County Sheriff; video courtesy John Rogers/CBS Chicago]
