EXHIBIT A
It was a shocking discovery that triggered an agonizing decision.
But they knew it had to be done.
After find a collection of marijuana, pipes and a weigh scale hidden in their 16-year-old son's bedroom in their south Winnipeg home this past September, the teen's parents called police with an explicit request.
Come and take our son to jail, they pleaded. Then, after the police had left and the boy's lawyer said he could immediately get him out on bail, the parents spoke up again.
Keep him locked up, they said.
And so the teen sat, for three long nights, in custody at the Manitoba Youth Centre.
"We put our foot down because we don't believe in marijuana or drugs. This really bothered us when it happened and we wanted to nip it in the bud. That's why we called the police and had him arrested," the boy's father told youth court this week.
The dad, who works as a hotel manager, says he wanted his son to spend a short stint in jail, "to show this isn't a joke anymore."
"He told me there has to be some meaningful consequences for my son," said defence lawyer Jackson Mugerwa.
The teen, a Grade 11 student with no prior criminal involvement, pleaded guilty to possession of 12 grams of pot and was given a conditional discharge by Meyers that will give him a second chance at not being saddled with a criminal record.
The judge said he was swayed by the obvious support the young man has in his life and is confident he is in good hands.
"There's so few times parents come forward in this manner and recognize the criminality of their children. The court is grateful for this," said Meyers. The dad said they have imposed a nightly curfew on their son that is strictly enforced, drive him to school and his part-time job to ensure he doesn't stray and routinely monitor his behaviour and contacts.
"We're keeping a close eye on him, watching over his room, what he's bringing into the house. It's going to take a long time for him to earn our trust back," said the father.
The youth offered an apology in court this week, prompting an interesting exchange with Meyers.
"Who are you apologizing to?" asked the judge.
"To the court," said the teen.
"Why would you apologize to me? You owe an apology to your family, to your friends, to people who have stood with you. If you're into drugs, stop it now or you're going to run the risk of doing some heavy time," said Meyers.
Any future problems would immediately be addressed in the same "zero-tolerance" fashion, the father promised.
The other two stories were more of the same. The parents turned their law-breaking, drug-abusing, drug-dealing kids over to the mercy of the courts. The judge thanks the parents for taking responsibility for their children and then he lambasts the little devils for showing their parents disrespect. The kids learned a lesson and everybody walks away from the experience a little wiser.
These stories are three sad examples of how completely reefer madness has infiltrated society. Although we no longer teach people that reefer will make darkies think they are as good as white people, the majority of people are woefully uneducated about cannabis or the harm caused by the enforcement of our drug laws. Cannabis use has never resulted in a single overdose death and is not linked with cancer. Cannabis prohibition has ensured a profitable income for criminals and locked up disproportionate numbers of brown and poor people. We spend millions of tax dollars enforcing the law every year and we have the same number of drug users. It has kept an incredibly cheap, safe and effective medical plant away from sick people that can benefit from its use. There are a lot of reasons for drug users and disdainers alike to disagree with drug prohibition.
I really believe these parents thought they were doing exactly the right thing for their kids. They probably have no idea that they are complicit in the highly corrupt war on drugs. Maybe they never heard of the Senate Report recommending repealing drug prohibition or the federal medical marijuana program. What we need is a massive public education campaign to get the word out that marijuana is a highly beneficial plant and the prohibition of it has had a lot of negative consequences. Then hopefully parents can choose to deal with drug use issues in a positive way that does not support the war on drugs.
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