Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jan 2014
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2014 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: L.A. Parker
Page: A2

TRUTH OF THE MATTER: BREAK THE LAW, FACE THE CONSEQUENCES

Words of wisdom learned from personal experience yielded a rather
simple necessity: You have to obey the rules.

Obedience is just a part of life although guidelines enforced in one
venue may not necessarily serve as laws in some other area.

Actually, rules for young children vary from classroom, to their home,
or when they visit their grandparents. Young life is when children
receive their introduction to being a law-abiding citizen.

A toddler may receive detention for putting his feet on a school desk,
a verbal reprimand or timeout for a similar offense at home, while
Pop-Pop and Nana will wrap their entire homes in plastic so that
junior gets away clean, so to speak.

Those are the rules despite whimpering from Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion
who gained another Trentonian front page story for his crusade to
spend his life riding a Rocky Mountain High.

Hey, it's his life but please don't make this guy some kind of paragon
of virtue, a role model for social rights, some distant connection to
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or any other significant activist.

Different states have different rules for marijuana, highway speed
limits, gun ownership, sex laws, and a litany of other subjects. So,
when you are legally clipping along at 75 mph in one state then cross
a line into a state that requires 60 mph, you slow your buttocks down
unless you want to pay a fine for speeding.

It all goes back to that saying "When in Rome do as the Romans do."
Same motto works in New Jersey, Texas, and in those great reefer
madness states of Colorado and Washington State.

But forget most of the conversations about marijuana, Mr. Forchion did
not bogard several interesting realities during his conversation with
Trentonian columnist Jeff Edelstein.

"I'm going back to Burlington County Jail. It's boring. I just sit
there in jail with a whole bunch of people who are wasting their
lives. Boring," Forchion said.

Black, white, or any other person, that's the reality of life behind
bars. While dramas exists inside prison walls, sort of a coping
mechanism for counting out time, jail has to be boring.

It's ridiculous when people say that former Hamilton Township Mayor
John Bencivengo is living the good life behind bars in a Pennsylvania
federal prison. Any situation that limits mobility, whether it's a
short walk to the fridge for a cold beverage or a romp on a Sealy
Posturepedic with a significant other, delivers a confinement of boredom.

(Wait a minute. A co-worker just asked what I'm doing for the Super
Bowl). See what I mean? Nothing like freedom.

Now, ask a prisoner that same question.

Undoubtedly, nuances exist about Forchion's case but if pot is illegal
in New Jersey, right or wrong, and you choose to light up, then suffer
the consequences. It's that simple. Poor decisions we make as
toddlers, teenagers, and adults, come with varying degrees of punishment.

The moment we become cognizant of requirements then we understand that
breaking established house rules or social laws, people in robes,
whether it's mom in her house coat or U.S. District Judge Michael A.
Shipp in his court wear, owns a power to put us in the corner seat or
behind bars.

Rules serve as mile markers, establish boundaries, offer delineation
toward respectful interaction.

Case in point. I needed information from the city's Inspections
Department yesterday. Office personnel told me Business Administrator
Sam Hutchinson had to clear all conversations and interviews with
department Director Cleveland Thompson.

Her instructions did not make me happy, especially since it meant I
had to take another elevator up to the third floor. Hutchinson
provided access which allowed Thompson a path toward interaction.

"We have to follow the rules, L.A." said one of many cooperative
employees in Thompson's department.

Our society falls apart, our city shows disintegration when many
people fail to understand rules have consequences. Cheat on your
spouse? Consequences. Take a political bribe? Consequences. Drink and
drive? Consequences. Smoke pot in a state where it's illegal?
Consequences.

Our decisions will always yield consequences. It's been that way since
Adam and Eve shared a piece of fruit, since Moses lost his temper,
etc.

This is not rocket science, especially if your choices place you in a
8-by-5 cell. Prison is real and until laws change to deal with an
amazing amount of men and women behind bars because of pot possession,
I would suggest that marijuana users be careful.

One of my core beliefs is that this city's great challenge is to keep
our young men out of jails, prisons, and a punishing court system.

Don't risk your freedom or waste your life for marijuana.

No matter how right Mr. Forchion believes he may be.

He's wrong.
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MAP posted-by: Matt