NurseCarmen is probaly right. He and some friends pooled their money for a volume discount. The largest I ever bought way back when was half a pound. You could save a LOT of money doing this.
A quarter pound was pretty common for me, but I never bought that much just for my own use. I never thought of myself as a dealer, because I never made money on it. I lost money in fact, because I doled out the shares, and while trying not to short anybody else, often shorted myself.
Whether the cops would have bought that story is another question.
I know the feeling well. Just last week while looking for some misplaced library books I found a baggie with a bit of hash in it. I snatched it and thought about it for about 24 hours before letting my 17, nearly 18 year old son know where it was.
It was a tough 24 hours for me. I smoke a bit and have my own stash. The difference however, is that I am an established adult and the implications of my getting caught are negligible.
The young man in question has already been in some unrelated legal trouble and is still on probation. Getting caught would seriously impact his future.
My solution was similar to most of the above advice. We talked, I pointed out the ramifications of his possession, told him that it was not to be on my property or in my vehicles.
He surprised me by admitting that he did want to clean up his act and surprised me further by showing me the rest of his considerable stash of hash and pot.
Initially he wanted to get rid of it by reselling and recouping his money, until I pointed out the honor among drugies story. He took it and threw it in the wood stove.
Ten minutes later, we were still sitting on the bed, really having a heart to heart father son conversation when the dog started howling at the moon. Cracked us both up!
Damn, it sure was hard to see those excellent looking herbs go in the stove. I’d have loved to have pinched that hash, but what is a semi-responsible dad to do?
All that angst was worth it when he came back after an hour of mourning and said, “thanks dad”.
You know, I might consider going after the “responsibility” angle. Smokig pot is illegal, as is underage drinking and a lot of other things kids do that are not the end of the world (this depends, of course, on your worldview–some people may think these are the worst things ever for young people to do). My position with my kid is that if he wants to take responsibility for doing these things, he has to prove he can do it without being a dumbass. THAT’S how he can prove to me that it’s okay to selectively disobey the law.
Getting caught drinking (or driving afterward, caught or not) is dumbassed. Keeping one’s stash where it can be found is dumbassed. Doing either activity so much that it effects one’s job or schoolwork is dumbassed. It’s an immediate signifier that he isn’t being responsible about what he is doing, and possibly not as mature as he thinks he is.
If he wasn’t to experiment with non-hard drugs, or wants to drink, I won’t disown him…but it’s something he’s got to prove he’s mature enough to handle.
Normally, it is the Worst Possible Thing to involve the police in a case like this. However, there are several things at play here.
The amount sure sounds like the kid is dealing, and if so, that’s something the dad needs to find out. If the kid is using, that’s not all that bad, depending. If he’s dealing, he’s crossed the line, and then some.
You might wonder where he got the money for that amount of pot. I have no idea how much that amount of that quality is worth, but it sounds like a lot. It sounds like the kid has waaaaaay too much disposable income.
Plus, there may be other drugs hidden in the house, at school, etc. I went to school with two boys that had, between the two of them, more than 5 pounds of “medium grade” pot in their lockers. I never in my life saw so much pot, except on “Cops”. :eek:
There is the whole aspect of bring a large amount of an illegal substance into the house. If that was ever found, that could result in some serious consequences. I do not know if it is a UL or not that pot in this quantity could do this, but homes have been forfeited over drug finds, as have cars.
And on the car note…I cannot believe he brought it work. One speeding ticket stop, random checkpoint, or car accident, and all of a sudden your friend would hear the words “Welcome, my son…to the machine.”
** mandielise ** you are not doing anything wrong. The fault comes in how your parents are reacting to smokling pot, and their feelings about your brother taking the ‘road less traveled’. You are not doing anything wrong. They will get over it, you will graduate MAGNE and they will be proud of you.
As for the Kid in the OP. I just got back from breakfast with he and his dad, my buddy. They’re cool. I shared my pot smoking stories with them, and he – the kid – knows to be more responsible and not to bring it in the house any more. He insists he is not dealing and I believe him. He’s an honest kid, and smoking a little pot doesn’t hurt anyone.
Disclaimer those who smoke pot irresponsibly and drive or switch to harder substances are asking for a world of pain. Keep it simple.
An ounce and a half is NOT alot for personal use. Not at all. Not if the kid has a fair amount of income to spend. Most kids buy in small increments like dimes and quarters because thats all they can afford. When /I/ buy pot, I buy in ounces or larger. Why? Because I don’t like the hassle of meeting up with dealers and all the shit that goes along with it. The longer between visits the better.
Secondly, the kid was probably holding the stash for him and his friends who went in on it together. So he was responsible for keeping it. This is very usual among teenagers.
Also, the fact that it was hydroponic really isn’t an issue. In Canada, almost all “street pot” is high-quality hydroponic. It doesn’t really affect the price all that much, if at all. This stuff isn’t imported either, its grown locally and sold locally. There isn’t some massive “pot” cartel making billions off pot.
Finally, unfortunately, the parent in question is likely going to overeact anyway.
So the kid is smoking pot, big deal. So long as he has a job and can afford his habit, then let him enjoy it. But telling the anti-drug zealots to go fuck themselves is for another thread I suppose.
To be honest, why throw it out? It’s not as if he’s not going to go back out and buy more. This seems to smack of “out of signt, out of mind” – the assumption that, because the coworker in question didn’t realize that the smoking was going on, that it WASN’T going on. Ditching that specific bag of weed, and hoping not to find it in the future, doesn’t mean the kid isn’t still smoking it – because he is.
That’s a large amount of weed, but not an insane amount. As well, much “dealing” of pot is less the ruthless business that’s popularly portrayed as “drug dealing”, but more of the “well, I’ll smoke part of this, sell a little to friends” kinda thing. It’s sharing with money changing hands to defray the cost, much of the time.
[QUOTEHe also thought his kid was very honest with him, and thus gave him a lot of space…But my buddy thinks there has been some sort of breakdown between his relationship with his son. Why else would his son hide this from him? [/QUOTE]
It’s very likely that this isn’t an issue of that. Hell, I don’t feel comfortable drinking while my father is around, and I’m of age, he knows I drink, and he sometimes even offers me one (even before I was 21).
Now, if he lies about it, or something, than that’s a possible indicator of a problem. No matter how good the relationship, how many kids are going to come home one day and say “hey Dad, guess what? I just bought an ounce of some really kick-ass pot!”?
I agree with Myrr21. I never just came out to tell my parents - it’s just a bad idea. But when my mom asked, I told her. It really was a bad night. She also asked if me and my bf for about a year and a half were having sex. Man, she didn’t really want that answer!
I just want to confirm that an ounce or so is not a large amount, and that the fact that he had any specific quantity once doesn’t mean he’s buying that much regularly. I’d guess that anyone I know who smokes even a small amount would buy an ounce if some one offered them above average quality at a particulary good price that they could afford. Then either they would divide it among friends, or keep it and have it last for many months.
For those who say “an ounce is not a huge amount,” IMO it signifies that he is either a regular user, or he hangs with several other smokers who are pooling their resources, or he is buying in larger quantities for economy. As a parent, I’m not sure which of those would make me happy.
occ - How about throwing it away as punishment for bringing it into the house? Because it’s illegal and the father doesn’t take a lackadaisical attitude toward drug use by his minor child? Because the kid needed to learn a lesson?
I don’t believe the father should’ve called the cops, but just because others think that smoking pot is no big deal doesn’t make it okay in his household.