Police arrested six students aged 13 to 17 at a Gatineau high school Thursday for smoking marijuana and selling contraband cigarettes.

The principal of du Versant secondary school on de-la-Cité Boulevard called the Gatineau police school resource officer because he was worried about students smoking marijuana during lunchtime and the effect it would have on their studies, said Gatineau police Lieut. Jean-Paul LeMay.

'He had that all in one bag — about 400 cigarettes — and he was selling them for 50 cents a unit on school property.'—Gatineau police Lieut. Jean-Paul LeMay

Police observed students at the school, then arrested five for consuming marijuana and one for selling contraband cigarettes.

"He had that all in one bag — about 400 cigarettes — and he was selling them for 50 cents a unit on school property," LeMay said, adding that the student will be ticketed under Quebec's Tobacco Act. Police seized the cigarettes.

LeMay acknowledged that sometimes schools can solve similar problems on their own.

"But sometimes they need our assistance to send a strong message," he said.