I make this thread not to whine, not to complain, not to gloat, or brag. I make this thread simply to give a piece of my mind, and share something personal with the LFS community. I know there are many young, and many old that browse these forums, and I'm sure you'll have some words of wisdom to share with me.

Yesterday during school (grade 10 year at a catholic school) I got busted for possession of narcotics with the intent to sell. I had about a half gram of dope, and my pack of papers. I'm really confused. I know how badly I screwed everything up by letting this happen, and I know how big of deal this is, yet, it just seems to feel like 'another day'. I'm guessing I haven't yet let things sink in, because I know I should be more upset and worried then I actually feel right now.

I have a court date set in April, I'm really sceptical about that, I've never been in a courtroom, or even dealt with the law. Anybody here ever have a court date or a hearing? What's it like? Any ideas on how I can prepare?

I've been suspended until further notice, so I'm really stressed that I won't be able to keep up with my work (I was just settling into second semester with some of my best grades ever) Yet I can't seem to realize how big of a problem that is.

I'm feeling down, but very empty. I've tried listening to lively music (Zeppelin, Rush, Floyd, AC/DC, Stewart, Clapton, SRV) But even the songs that always pick me up can't do anything. I don't really know how I should be feeling right now, but I know for certain I shouldn't be as relaxed and empty as I feel.

Anybody here been in this situation? Or even have any advice or help about any of this. I've got a lot to deal with at the moment, and you guys are the only mature people I can talk about this with.
~Bryan~

Drug dealers, of any sort, are jerks. Rather than court, a nice public hanging would be better. If that's illegal where you live, trying a home remedy

Step 1 would be to get as far away from drugs as possible. It's not going to be an easy fix, such as turning on some music. Not to mention that almost all the artists you mentioned are heavily associated with drugs.

Intent to sell? For half a gram of smoke?Is Canadian law really that strict?

If you got caught with that in the UK (or anything under roughly half an ounce) you wouldn't even be arrested for it, let alone taken to court for dealing.

Without knowing your laws i don't know what to say to you really.

Just make sure you look fairly smart for your court appearance. Speak clearly to the magistrate (no teenage mumbling ) and continually state the fact that such a tiny amount was for personal use only.


TBH i cant believe they would wast tax payers money on even taking this to court. Don't be surprised if the /prosecution is dropped. Good luck to you.


As for Tristan's remarks...well, the sooner someone hangs him, the better for all of us.



EDIT :- As for the whole "don't do drugs" brigade, that is entirely up to you. I would be a complete hypocrite if i said "never take drugs", but i would also say i don't recommend it in any way. Smoking a bit of weed now and again is not a problem. (and the people who tell you it is are usually the ones who go out drinking regularly...now that really is hypocritical ! ) If you are doing it every day then it is already habitual and that can lead to problems in the long term. As for any other drugs....just stay away, nothing good ever comes from it. I speak from experience. I've caused myself huge mental health problems from sustained drug use and missed out on so many opportunities in life.
I've seen people i cared for end up in long term psychiatric care, and i have friends that have both committed suicide and died from overdoses.
That's not to say it happens to everyone, but why take the chance?

Stick to the occasional smoke, but don't get involved in harder stuff.

/Mini lecture over

That sucks man, hopefully you learn a lesson from all this. Stay away from drugs. Although, it might not be a bad idea to also take a good hard look at who your friends are. If they're just like you, then you will never change, because of peer pressure. If you hang out with better people, your habits will change. That's really the only thing I can say. Though I doubt you can go back to your old school, usually when there's drugs involved, an expulsion is not usually far off.

Intent to sell for only half a gram ?
It's not even a good jointsworth, here in the UK you would get an offical caution maximum, more likely just a 'don't do it again'.

I've no idea about the laws/penlties in Canada, but I don't think that this is the big life ruining moment that some will make out that it is. You were stupid for taking it to school, can you maybe get notes/homework from friends so that you don;t fall too far behind ? This might also look good from the school point of view.

Quote from The Moose :

Intent to sell? For half a gram of smoke?Is Canadian law really that strict?

He's propably black.

Quote from March Hare :

He's propably black.

What kind of comment is that? He's white btw.

Isn't it common knowledge that if a white guy is caught with a bag of dope it's possession. For a black guy it's intent to sell.

were you actually going to sell it? If so, just accept whatevers coming really. However, half a gram is ridiculous, thats barely enough for a joint, you have to have a fair bit more than that (about a quarter, is it not?) to get anything more than a "dont do it again".

Quote from March Hare :

Isn't it common knowledge that if a white guy is caught with a bag of dope it's possession. For a black guy it's intent to sell.

Maybe in Finland....

Over here we seem to have moved on a little. The police aren't interested in wasting their time on dope possession, for any skin colour.

Good to know that racism is loosing it's hold.

They are clearly trying to make an example out of you. Or have there been many cases at your school?

To get you out of the blues try a few races on LFS.
It always cheers me up.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Drug dealers, of any sort, are jerks. Rather than court, a nice public hanging would be better. If that's illegal where you live, trying a home remedy

Totally over the top reaction (not unusual for you...). He had half a gram of dope. Half a gram is not an amount you can sell. It's got to have been for personal use. In that case I couldn't care less about it, if he wants to smoke it then fine. If he was selling it it would be a different matter (I agree that drug dealers are scum), but the fact that he's possibly messed up his life for half a gram of dope is not a punishment that fits the crime, IMO. A few people have said it wouldn't even be punishable in the UK, half a gram is a tiny amount.

I really don't see the big deal with marijuana. Tobacco is no better, likely worse in fact, yet you can get caught smoking at school and just get a slap on the wrists. I don't personally take marijuana, but that's only because there are no reputable sources to buy it from. The worst thing about your case, IMO, is your age. It's so much worse to take drugs when you're still growing.

When you go to court just plead guilty to a lesser count, probably something like simple possession. If you have never been in trouble before it wont be anything more than a slap on the wrist along with some "drug classes". (thats what would happen here anyway). When in court, dont try to deny you smoke the stuff, just be honest and tell them that it was for consumption, not for sale. When I was 18 I got caught with about 10 grams and got 6 months probabtion and a 550$ fine. That didnt stop me from smoking it, but I did get smarter about they way I carried it. Learn from this, take your punishment and concentrate on getting back in school ASAP!!

If your gonna smoke pot (lord knows Ive smoked a ton of it) dont take it to school. Burn one before and after, but dont take it to school! The trouble will be much worse for you.

P.S. Dont allow the reefer to be a gateway drug for others. Stick with the pot (if your gonna do anything) and leave the harder stuff alone!

Do you really think he was charged with intent to supply for half a gram? No. I bet he either had just half a gram on him, but found lots at home/the lockup/whereever, or he simply had more than half a gram on him.

He's hardly going to write the whole truth and nothing but on a public internet forum whilst facing charges is he.

I can accept that people take drugs. But I really hate the little shits that sell it on in the first place.

Maybe he was going to sell it to kids? They wouldn't need as much right, they are only small!

....selling drugs to little kids, man alive, you people make me sick!

Quote from garph :

Maybe he was going to sell it to kids? They wouldn't need as much right, they are only small!

....selling drugs to little kids, man alive, you people make me sick!

jeez, who said he was selling it to kids (if he was selling it at all, which i very much doubt). Keep your assumptions to yourself until you have some facts.

i'm not going to get into whether or not he was telling the truth, or even the whole story, and just give advice over what was stated...

first off, intent to sell is a very serious charge. my personal advice is that you contact a lawyer, and be absolutely 100% truthful with him.

and when you go to court, be respectful to the judge. that means. yes/no maam or yes/no sir, or even yes/no your honor. also, dress respectfully, that means a suit, or at the very least dress pants and a button up shirt. judges don't take kindly to people that are rude to them, and this seems especially true for teenagers that are rude to them. but definately lawyer. at least contact one, even if you don't have them represent you in court, they will have extremely valuable info for you.

He either made something up. Either he didn't have much, got a caution, but pretended he was going to jail/court. Or he actually had sufficient in his possession (but perhaps not on him) to get him to court in the first place, but didn't want to admit the truth.

The only other possibility is that the police are completely mistaken, he didn't have much on him, they're taking him to court because no one has noticed what the lawyers have been shouting for the past few weeks.

I'm sticking with the second one - he's guilty of a lot more than half a gram to be on court duty.

Quote from Bob Smith :

I really don't see the big deal with marijuana. Tobacco is no better, likely worse in fact, yet you can get caught smoking at school and just get a slap on the wrists. I don't personally take marijuana, but that's only because there are no reputable sources to buy it from. The worst thing about your case, IMO, is your age. It's so much worse to take drugs when you're still growing.

Ben, it's even less stringent here for smoking, seeing we actually have a designated location where students are permitted to smoke, but elsewhere it's disallowed.

Can't say anything about intent to sell, as I've never been caught ;o As said, be respectful to the judge, *do not interrupt or blatantly argue* with the judge, dress smartly etc. etc. Next time, don't carry any on you, and never so much as give any to anybody you don't know. Why? If they get done, guess who they say it came from..

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

Ben

Who's Ben?

Initial reaction to getting busted usually has a lot more to the procedure followed when small quantities are involved. If you give lip or get aggressive then they'll try to squeeze you as much as they can.

That being said, there's no sense in not listening to your favorite rock bands because they used drugs as someone said earlier, but I believe there's more sense in staying busy. Just do something - don't sit on your ass and mope and daydream scenarios of what's going to go down and oh woe how ruined is you, all that'll do is add to your anxiety when you get in the courtroom.

Everyone knows that Ben = Bob.