Brother smoking pot downstairs.

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Good point. I was the oldest with 4 younger sisters, so my experience with knocking heads with a younger, or older, brother is non-existant.

ouch, 4 younger sisters

I have two older sisters, and basically if they felt like fighting with us it sucked, because you sure as hell didn't hit or hurt any girls in our household

I didn't take time to read all of this but police sounds like a good deal.

Way too late for that, started this thread in early 2010 lol

Just bumped it because he left for Airborne school yesterday. Baby Benny starting to get all grown up

It's nice to see that he got his sh|t together. For some people, going into the service is a great choice and really helps them get a grip on what it takes to make something of themselves.

Originally Posted by Samanthajane

I didn't take time to read all of this but police sounds like a good deal.

There are some horror stories out there about people turned in to the police by family for pot smoking. Stuff like years of probation, rearrests for petty shyte, drug court weirdness, vindictive, whacked out judges, etc. I say if a kid is molesting his younger sister or beating up on his parents, call the cops, otherwise keep it in the family.

Originally Posted by wag-zhp

It's nice to see that he got his sh|t together. For some people, going into the service is a great choice and really helps them get a grip on what it takes to make something of themselves.

He's enjoying it so far, even the 25 mile march they just went on. I typically get about 10 texts on weekends about his weekly activities, and some funny stories about his drill Sgt that has PTSD and Tourettes

Originally Posted by cmac2012

There are some horror stories out there about people turned in to the police by family for pot smoking. Stuff like years of probation, rearrests for petty shyte, drug court weirdness, vindictive, whacked out judges, etc. I say if a kid is molesting his younger sister or beating up on his parents, call the cops, otherwise keep it in the family.

+1

Which makes me glad I didn't go that route...

Originally Posted by cmac2012

There are some horror stories out there about people turned in to the police by family for pot smoking. Stuff like years of probation, rearrests for petty shyte, drug court weirdness, vindictive, whacked out judges, etc. I say if a kid is molesting his younger sister or beating up on his parents, call the cops, otherwise keep it in the family.

Agreed.

Business in the family, is family business.

Originally Posted by cmac2012

There are some horror stories out there about people turned in to the police by family for pot smoking. Stuff like years of probation, rearrests for petty shyte, drug court weirdness, vindictive, whacked out judges, etc. I say if a kid is molesting his younger sister or beating up on his parents, call the cops, otherwise keep it in the family.

I don't agree with you often but, I'm with you on this one. I would only use that as a last resort after exhausting every other avenue.

NPR's This American Life had an interesting but disturbing story about 'drug court' in Georgia a while back. Very likely it's the worst case scenario and not common but my take is plenty of judges still view pot as the tool of lucifer. This is an article about the story with a link to it embedded:

http://www.indisputably.org/?p=2226

The program reports serious and systemic problems with one drug court in Georgia including disproportionate sentences both for defendants who opt to not do drug court and for those who do it and fail. The court seems set up in a way to guarantee that participants will fail. The court reportedly responds to standard (and expected) violations by the participants exclusively with ever increasing periods in custody. The report tells about one drug court participant with no prior criminal record whose initial offense was passing two bad checks for a total of $100. This defendant ended up in drug court for five years during which time she served 14 months in custody and then she served five additional years in custody. As NPR reported, the average drug court program in the USA lasts 15 months, not five years. In addition to the time served there seems to be serious violations of basic rights like denial of access to medical care. Judge Amanda Williams reportedly runs the court with little regard for the rights of those who come to the court. She also reportedly suffers from a complete misunderstanding about the basic goals and approaches of therapeutic justice.

Originally Posted by Ryan...

He's enjoying it so far, even the 25 mile march they just went on. I typically get about 10 texts on weekends about his weekly activities, and some funny stories about his drill Sgt that has PTSD and Tourettes



+1

Which makes me glad I didn't go that route...

PTSD and Tourette syndrome are no laughing matter...but I'm sure you're well aware of that.

Originally Posted by TannerSV

PTSD and Tourette syndrome are no laughing matter...but I'm sure you're well aware of that.

I'm certainly not poking fun of anyone with a mental or physical illness, I've spent 6 years working directly with mentally handicapped individuals in multiple settings. They have been, without doubt, some of the most genuinely nice people I've ever met and have taught me a lot.

According to my brother, the Sgt is a nice guy and often uses his "disabilities" to make people laugh when "off duty" so to speak

Originally Posted by Ryan...

My mom is gone for the night and I'm back at home for the week, and sure enough, I smell pot coming up through the heating vents. Background: my little brother is 17, a complete waste of life, and is using my mom's money to buy pot. My mom has no spine and wont do anything about it. Luckily I have a spine, and it's fvcking pissing me off.

My question for you: What is my next step?

1. Baseball bat, break the stupid fvcks knees?
2. Use my experience in BJJ and Muay Thai to set an example?
3. Call the cops?
4. Beat the living sh*t out of every little *** in the basement, using whatever I find on my way down there?
5. Take a tire iron and remove their tires, then throw the tires in the field behind my house?

beat him half to death and then call the cops.

then you can both go to jail.

Originally Posted by Ryan...

Way too late for that, started this thread in early 2010 lol

Just bumped it because he left for Airborne school yesterday. Baby Benny starting to get all grown up

And just think, you're initial knee-jerk reaction of calling the cops could have destroyed any military hopes for him. Good thing you didn't let your emotions get the best of you

Originally Posted by paulg

beat him half to death and then call the cops.

then you can both go to jail.

Originally Posted by Just Bryce

And just think, you're initial knee-jerk reaction of calling the cops could have destroyed any military hopes for him. Good thing you didn't let your emotions get the best of you

A little more insight: the town of Chilton has less than 4k people. The cops around here (Chilton/Appleton/Green Bay) rarely prosecute for possession, its typically a $200 fine and 20+ hours of community service. So while it may have ruined his chances of joining the military, I'm sure he'd have a ton of other options out there for him.

Also, from the group of kids he regularly smoked with, 1 is dead (his best friend drunk driving), 2 are currently in jail waiting to be sentenced for auto theft and battery, and I'm not exactly sure what happened to the last idiot. So really, looking back and reading what I originally thought, beating the crap out of a couple of them doesn't sound all that bad.

Originally Posted by Just Bryce

And just think, you're initial knee-jerk reaction of calling the cops could have destroyed any military hopes for him. Good thing you didn't let your emotions get the best of you

Lol Pot definitely wont ruin your chances of joining the Army, some branches, absolutely but the Army is not one of them.

Originally Posted by Ryan...

A little more insight: the town of Chilton has less than 4k people. The cops around here (Chilton/Appleton/Green Bay) rarely prosecute for possession, its typically a $200 fine and 20+ hours of community service. So while it may have ruined his chances of joining the military, I'm sure he'd have a ton of other options out there for him.

Also, from the group of kids he regularly smoked with, 1 is dead (his best friend drunk driving), 2 are currently in jail waiting to be sentenced for auto theft and battery, and I'm not exactly sure what happened to the last idiot. So really, looking back and reading what I originally thought, beating the crap out of a couple of them doesn't sound all that bad.

Smoking pot is the gateway drug to grand theft auto (not the game), battery, and death.

Um, no.

The worst effects of smoking pot are a severe case of the munchies and terminal mellowness.

As you noted, alcohol kills people.

My generation in high school chose pot - not alcohol. It was only as they grew older did they switch to drinking.

I watched 3 close friends succumb to alocoholism.

One has been in recovery now for 12 years, another is a mess, and the 3rd I lost touch with.
Too bad they didn't stick with pot which has little to no addictive properties or substantial impairment issues.

Your brother's issue was not that he smoked pot - it was that he was using your mom's money. That is the source of your rage.

Originally Posted by paulg

Smoking pot is the gateway drug to grand theft auto (not the game), battery, and death.

Um, no.

The worst effects of smoking pot are a severe case of the munchies and terminal mellowness.

As you noted, alcohol kills people.

My generation in high school chose pot - not alcohol. It was only as they grew older did they switch to drinking.

I watched 3 close friends succumb to alocoholism.

One has been in recovery now for 12 years, another is a mess, and the 3rd I lost touch with.
Too bad they didn't stick with pot which has little to no addictive properties or substantial impairment issues.

Your brother's issue was not that he smoked pot - it was that he was using your mom's money. That is the source of your rage.

I didn't mean to imply smoking pot lead to the death and auto theft, I was giving more insight into the idiots he was hanging out with WHILE smoking.

And your last sentence is 100% accurate. I honestly believe MJ should be legal, something most of my instructors also agreed with during school (degree in Criminal Justice)..

Originally Posted by Ryan...

I didn't mean to imply smoking pot lead to the death and auto theft, I was giving more insight into the idiots he was hanging out with WHILE smoking.

And your last sentence is 100% accurate. I honestly believe MJ should be legal, something most of my instructors also agreed with during school (degree in Criminal Justice)..

I was thinking about that last sentence a few minutes ago and wanted to add this to it...

Originally Posted by paulg

Your brother's issue was not that he smoked pot - it was that he was using your mom's money. That, and your worry and concern for him. That is the source of your rage.

One of my friends was angry with his daughter because she was hanging out with trash low brow goons from her HS.
He was actually worried but his worry was translated into anger because of this concern and inability to reach his daughter.

Originally Posted by paulg

I was thinking about that last sentence a few minutes ago and wanted to add this to it...



One of my friends was angry with his daughter because she was hanging out with trash low brow goons from her HS.
He was actually worried but his worry was translated into anger because of this concern and inability to reach his daughter.

That's a very accurate insight into how I was feeling at the time too. We've always had a very close family, so that whole ordeal seemed like something pretty outrageous at the time..

The *system* is not your friend. Involving law enforcement is a bad idea IMO. He is a 17 yo kid smoking pot; not raping children, not stealing the life savings of senior citizens, not murdering people, etc.. You might very well be responsible for sending him down the path of a habitual prison convict if you're not careful.

btw, I don't use drugs. I did smoke pot when I was that age, but gave it up many decades ago. Thirty years later my only involvement with the criminal justice system was spending the night in jail for doing triple the speed limit.

You could always try being the big brother that he looks up to and respects. Think about it ... maybe getting him to take one of those "scared straight" tours in jail or prison, but IMO getting law enforcement directly involved often causes more harm than good. Even if it's just that charge on his record causing issues for the rest of his life.

Originally Posted by TeamM3

The *system* is not your friend. Involving law enforcement is a bad idea IMO. He is a 17 yo kid smoking pot; not raping children, not stealing the life savings of senior citizens, not murdering people, etc.. You might very well be responsible for sending him down the path of a habitual prison convict if you're not careful.

btw, I don't use drugs. I did smoke pot when I was that age, but gave it up many decades ago. Thirty years later my only involvement with the criminal justice system was spending the night in jail for doing triple the speed limit.

You could always try being the big brother that he looks up to and respects. Think about it ... maybe getting him to take one of those "scared straight" tours in jail or prison, but IMO getting law enforcement directly involved often causes more harm than good. Even if it's just that charge on his record causing issues for the rest of his life.

Exactly

Just a reminder; this thread is pretty old, its all said and done

+1

Geesh, he wrote it when he was upset, it was a long time ago, he didn't do it, his brother is all straightened out and on a good path, and they are all close again. The End.

I like happy endings.

And let me tell you another thing . . .