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Danish school caretaker fired for selling homegrown marijuana to youngsters

TheCopenhagenPost
February 17th, 2016


This article is more than 8 years old.

Finn Ove Nielsen says he is sorry, but thinks the punishment is too harsh

Wonder if they used their milk money (photo: CC BY)

Finn Ove Nielsen had been the caretaker at Vestermark School in North Skerninge on Funen for 25 years until he was fired on Monday for selling homegrown pot to young people from his residence in the city.

“I know that I have done something completely stupid, but I think that the punishment is too tough,” Nielsen told mitfyn.dk. “I don’t think it has anything to do with my work, but the municipality seems to think it does.”

A very caring caretaker
Nielsen’s saga began a year ago when he ran into some unruly children at school. When he met the same kids in town later on, he said that he lectured them on proper behaviour. He claimed that they then asked him where they could buy some cannabis.

He then offered to sell them some of his homegrown from a plant in his backyard that he did not use himself – he said he is not a smoker – but that had produced about 50 grams of dried pot that he kept in a bag.  He sold the weed to the kids about 10 times over a period of a few months, he said.

When the bag was empty, the youngsters stopped coming around, Nielsen said.

READ MORE: High school students say marijuana is no worse than alcohol, expert disagrees

After the Christmas holidays, Nielsen was called into see the headmaster, who had gotten wind of his cannabis trade. Nielsen confessed and has since been questioned by the police and charged with selling drugs.

The janitor contends that the sacking is uncalled for since his illegal dealings happened outside of his working hours.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”