Apr 27, 2010
In breaking news out of North Carolina today, four members of the NC State football team were cited on “drug charges” for hanging out in an apartment smoking a little marijuana. Apparently, an off-duty police officer working in the apartment building smelled marijuana and decided he needed to protect the community by busting in and arresting as many people as possible.
Three of the four players were charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. All four, including one who apparently did not possess the marijuana but resided in the apartment with the other players, were charged with “maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of using a controlled substance.” Are they kidding? Do the police believe they specifically rented that apartment so that it would be a drug den?
Let’s review what was found on the premises:
[Police Sergeant R.E.] Hoffman said he found two homemade bongs, a multi-colored glass bong, three clear sandwich bags containing approximately six grams of marijuana and a blunt cigar containing marijuana in the apartment, according to the warrant. The warrant also stated the finding of Bryan’s BlackBerry, which contained images of a marijuana plant in growth.
Quite the drug den.
The article noted that the four players “were” expected to play substantial roles on the team next season. But their status may be in jeopardy because of this situation.
Here is the most troubling part of this story. We are only hearing about it because these individuals are college athletes. There are more than 800,000 marijuana arrests in the U.S. every year. Every single day in this country otherwise law-abiding citizens have their worlds turned upside-down because they made the rational decision to use a substance less harmful than alcohol one night. This is as absurd as our law gets.
Reversing this madness is the mission of MPP.