Meet Marijuana Pepsi

That's what a Beloit, Wis., high school teacher goes by.

You might think a name like Marijuana Pepsi is right of out an old Cheech and Chong stoner flick.

But Marijuana Pepsi Sawyer is the real name of a Beloit, Wis., high school teacher. An aunt remembers the name Marijuana Pepsi seemed to fit right into the post-Woodstock era of the early 1970's. But Sawyer says it was tough growing up with that name (a fact young Adolf Hitler Campbell will one day attest to).

She says from the teacher taking attendance in class, to filling out paperwork, her name is never ignored. Sawyer tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel people always think she's joking.

The girl in her torn clothes and wild hair failed in school and was teased about her name, especially in junior high.

"Every single class, the teacher is taking attendance out loud, and as they slowly get down through the J's, I'm just like here it comes. 'Marianna? Marijuana?' And all the students turn to see who it is," she said.

Later in life, it wouldn't get any easier when she tried to order tickets over the telephone or fill out paperwork. People thought she was joking, or they wanted to hit her with 20 questions about why she was called that.

While she's named Marijuana, Sawyer says she's never touched the stuff herself.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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