Another Drug War Victim
The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs, 28:1)
My mother had lived in Vermont since 1991, the same year Howard Dean became governor of that state. She moved into a very rural community about an hour north of the state capitol, Montepelier. The drive to my mother's house was mostly over dirt roads with few other houses to be seen among the small valley farms and thick northern woods. My mother of course became extremely close to the few neighbors she did have. In that area, a "neighbor" qualifies as nearly anyone within a ten mile radius of your own home.
The most popular members of my mother's community were two brothers who had lived together in a farm house most of their lives. I've changed their names for this essay but the community had a nickname for them that was affectionate and funny. I'll call them Phil and Stan Boiz, or as they might have been named together, the Boiz brothers. As is common in rural Vermont, the Boiz were subsistence farmers. They had a small number of meat livestock which they cared for well. They had a two acre patch of various vegetables that they would eat fresh in the warm months and have canned in the fall for winter. They tapped maples for syrup every year which they would sell for processing for some extra cash. The Boiz were active in the community and would always show up with a lending hand whenever a new barn was being built or repairs were being done. They were often trusted to care for the livestock of their neighbors if the owners had to travel for some reason. They were the guys you could trust your kids with.
Then one day the Vermont state troopers came by with their SWAT team in full commando raid gear. These guys tore the whole farm up and found all of three marijuana plants. Even a subsistence farmer likes to get high every so often and usually can't afford to buy intoxicants. So Stan, the older of the Boiz brothers, copped to the charges to shield his younger brother and to keep the farm from being seized (since it was jointly owned). It seems the cops had earlier busted some college kid who was growing his own in his apartment. They made the kid play the "if you give up your dealer, you won't stay in jail forever" game. The Boiz brothers were the only other folks he knew that weren't just users. So some months later, Stan is facing some really stiff mandatory minimums. He was a 50 year old man. Rather than sitting in jail till he's sixty he opted instead to jump off the rafters of his barn with a noose of aviation cable tied round his neck. Being the smart and efficient farmer he was, the attempt severed his head clean off.
I understand that the authorities aren't directly responsible for Stan's death or the chaos that erupted in the community following the tragedy. I also understand that when someone commits a crime against society they should be removed from that society or punished. However the Boiz brothers weren't any threat to society or anybody. On the contrary, they were a huge benefit. They didn't sell their pot to anyone. They only grew it for themselves and visitors. These guys weren't corrupting children or shooting cops. They weren't doing anything but minding their own business and helping out where they could. They didn't deserve what they got.
The state police organized the arrest but I don't really blame them. They were acting on a policy decision of the governor, who at the time was Howard Dean. I hold Howard Dean responsible. I also hold Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and all the elected officials that allow these laws to exist responsible for the death of a really nice guy who never did anything wrong. These laws do not need to be passed, enforced, or upheld by any part of our government. I'll never again vote for a party that supports the continuation of the war on drugs.
- submitted by Casey
12:10:20 AM 
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