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Bong-Like Device Locks Down Commerce City School

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (CBS4) - A bong-like device used to inhale marijuana and tobacco smoke prompted officials at Adams City High School to lock down the school on Friday.

The device, which uses an accordion-like mechanism to expand when it fills with smoke, is called a gravity bong. It's marketed toward tobacco users. When not in use, it's about the size of softball.

A teacher found it in a student's backpack around 10 a.m. after noticing a strong marijuana odor in a classroom.

School officials said they didn't think the student was using the device on campus, but the smell of marijuana continued to linger, forcing the lockdown.

"Everybody was in the locker rooms," one student said. "We stayed there for like two hours."

Another added, "I thought it was a drill."

Commerce City police and medical personnel responded in case any students had a bad reaction to the marijuana smell.

The student responsible hasn't been identified but will face some sort of discipline, the school said.

Anthony Smith, the school's executive director, said the odor was so potent that it didn't take long before the student was identified.

"We confiscated the device," he said, "contacted all the parents that needed to be contacted. We pulled the kids because it was such a strong odor of marijuana that we wanted to make sure no one had any adverse effects."

Students said they weren't surprised.

"It doesn't really shock me that someone would do that," a student said. "It's become more common."

Smith said the discovery was not ordinary.

"We have a bunch of great kids, great community and great school," he said. "And it's taken us aback as much as it's taken everybody else aback."

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