AMITE -- A sometime school drug awareness official is charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after a Mardi Gras traffic stop in New Orleans.

And his boss, the long-time Tangipahoa DARE officer has reportedly taken ill and resigned from the Sheriff’s Office since the March 8 arrest.

Sheriff Daniel Edwards over the weekend said Kentrell Smith, 27, was arrested in the New Orleans area when police pulled his DARE vehicle over. He said Smith was used by DARE Officer Bud Cason on an as-needed contract basis for DARE events.

It is not know why Smith had the vehicle in Orleans Paerish, or what the traffic stop was prompted by.

Cason was not in the vehicle and is not under any investigation, the sheriff said in his news release.

“At this time, my office is investigating why the vehicle was out of the office and why Smith was driving the vehicle,” the sheriff said in the release.

Reports of Cason’s illness and resignation are not yet confirmed.