I volunteered my small bag of pot (Mexican, $10 and ounce, those where the days). Cop had me dump it out, he was even poetic in his instructions, "let the wind take it" or something to that effect, and we were on our way. Nice guy, and I really mean that.
Another time I was getting on a plane in the middle of winter, again in Albuquerque. The 'pat you down at the gate' routine was new and I hadn't given the situation the proper attention and had an ounce in my coat pocket. Put the coat on the conveyor and the screener (it wasn't electronic yet) pulled it out, gave me a dirty look and put it back in. But that was Albuquerque, the screeners grandmother probably smoked pot.
Anyway, it helps to be white.
Not these days it doesn't. A couple years back my son was swimming in a private local lake when a neighbor called the police. When he went to put his shorts back on, he saw a small bag of pot in the midst of all the clothes piled on a picnic table. He decided to be a hero and try to hide it and was caught. Another kid was caught with a pipe (my guess is that it was his pot). Had to go to court, lost his license for 6 months, had to attend a series of AA meetings and an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program. Cost him several thousand dollars. Total amount of pot - 1/50 of an ounce.
It seems that 40 years ago the police would look for a reason not to take you in; today it's the reverse. |
