Just six years old and Michaela Boyd has already tasted the crippling U.S. fear of pot. All the Sikeston, Missouri, first-grader wanted to do was give her schoolmate a present. Instead, she's tarnished her record because her teacher felt a bag of dirt looked like the demon marijuana.

The march toward shame began during recess at Matthews Elementary School, when Michaela found a plastic bag. She filled it with earth, rocks and clovers, tied it with a purple hair band and gave it to a friend, saying, "Here's a bag of dirt." The second student gave the bag to their teacher, and soon thereafter, Michaela and her mother, Michele, found themselves dealing with the school principal.

According to Michele Boyd, the school said Michaela's creation "looked like a bag of weed," and handed the girl a two-day detention. Boyd was also told her daughter's having made a "look-a-like drug" would go down on her permanent record. The school had no comment, other than to say they were "moving on."

» Scott Saxon