Monday, January 07, 2008

From the "So What" department

A story that stopped qualifying as "Weird News" 20 years ago: "60 -year-old accused in acid bust":
"Charges are pending against a 60-year-old St. John's resident after a large quantity of LSD was found during a bust Friday afternoon.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said it seized the hallucinogenic drugs, a small amount of marijuana and about $37,000 in cash during the raid on a house in the east end."

The headline in particular seems to indicate that the accused's age is an unusual or quirky enough aspect of the story to rate special attention. Please.

When I was in my 30's I knew a couple of growers who were my mother's age; at the time, these elder statesmen of the drug culture were a definite anomaly. But fast forward 20 years (and "fast" forward is quite apt in this context), and m-m-my g-g-g-generation is closing in on r-r-r-retirement age. When the first baby boomers are turning 63 this year, a 60-year-old drug dealer isn't that unusual.

It's just what happens when people are thrust by decades of bad drug legislation into an endless loop of crime and punishment.