I certainly don't mean to brow-beat you. I understand where you're coming from. I'm always very concerned when young people get involved in drugs, but much much more concerned with youth who find themselves suddenly in the drug trade. For some, it's a concious decision, for others, a step into their worst nightmares. I've spent twenty years dealing with youth crime and in particular young people and the drug trade. I've gained enough of an understanding to even relax my views on pot ( I'm already ducking under my desk from the flames that are sure to come). However, pot is much like alcohol, most young (and not so young) people handle it well but some don't. It is far far easier to deal with than the crystal meth problem which is fast becoming the drug of choice amongst young people. If it hasn't hit your area, it likely soon will and I would urge you to educate yourself on it. It has the potential to bury crack-cocaine as the drug of choice simply on cost alone.
Not to worry, I didn't take it that way. I guess that I am surprised by the increased numbers of kids smoking pot. It's popular among the punk kids. Knowing many of these kids personally, I am concerned for them, but I do agree that for most it's a rebellion or experiment. That's what made the one guy's fall so shocking. But it's true of course, that many of these kids had other issues and it was a perfect storm of sorts.
It is far far easier to deal with than the crystal meth problem which is fast becoming the drug of choice amongst young people. If it hasn't hit your area, it likely soon will and I would urge you to educate yourself on it. It has the potential to bury crack-cocaine as the drug of choice simply on cost alone.
This is our concern, too. Seeing heroin in the area was bad enough. Rural areas like mine are fast becoming engulfed by the meth epidemic. And the crime that goes with it. That's what struck me about the Vitale suspect, the similarities.