What A Quandary

This morning I was greeted with an FYI email from my mother, letting me know that one of my first cousins and his girlfriend have been arrested for having a marijuana grow-up worth almost $6 million. I was pretty shocked, but I was more interested in my initial gut reaction. I had a deep sympathy for my cousin and his girlfriend for getting caught and likely looking at jail time. You see, they're really nice people! My cousin was one of the four people in the room when my grandmother passed away in the early morning hours this summer. He is soft-spoken and funny; one of those guys you could have some beer with and shoot the shit for hours. He had a troubled adolescence but we all thought that he had cleaned up quite nicely...

...shouldn't my gut reaction be dismay and distaste at the horrible thing my cousin has done? That's what some people may have felt and maybe you're one of them. And yes, maybe he shouldn't have gotten into the whole growing and selling aspect of the marijuana industry! But does this make him a hardened criminal who deserves to go to jail forever? Sugarplum wonders about the rationality of the 'three strike' rule herself and explains it much better than I could. My cousin has been arrested before for relatively minor things as a teenager - I think this makes arrest number three. This does not make him an evil person who is a danger to our society!

Sigh. This arrest does make some of the pieces in the puzzle fit better. Like the nice vehicles and the gorgeous jewelry they both wore. The trips down south and the generous wedding gift! I really hope that they're doing okay right now, they must be pretty scared.

I can't tell if my views on marijuana have changed or if it's because the people involved are related to me, but I can't find it in myself to think of them as criminals.