"Stupid" Weed

A 16-year-old Sacramento boy spent nearly eight hours on a busy intersection Tuesday holding a sign that read, in part, "I'm stupid."

On Sunday night, Dominiq Drye, 16, came home from hanging out with some friends. His mother, Christine Drye, said she knew immediately something was wrong. "His eyes were red and glossy," said Drye. "I knew something wasn't right."

Dominiq eventually admitted he had smoked some marijuana. His mother said this wasn't the first time. "I've tried taking things, I've tried other punishment. It's not working," she said.

So Drye decided to try something different, something extreme. On Monday night she told her son he was going to have to get up early for a day of work. Early Tuesday morning the two drove to the corner of Howe Avenue and Hurley Way in Sacramento.

"I reached in the back seat, pulled out the sign and gave it to him and he read it and started laughing," said Drye. The sign read, "I'm stupid. I smoke 'weed' marijuana."

"I told him this is your job: you're standing on this street holding up this sign today," said Drye.

From 7:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., Dominiq stood in the sun and held his sign. He admitted he was humiliated. "I feel embarrassed that I have to go through this and other people have to see me do this," he said. But Dominiq never complained. "It's fair enough," he said.