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[quote=emeraldcity]
The street value of the pot, is likely less than $50,000. [/quote}</p>
<p>It seems like they are smart enough that they aren’t going to have a year worth of product in inventory! LOL.</p>
<p>FTA, they were pushed their sub dealers to move a pound a week. It also mentions that they had distribution in 5 HS and 3 colleges. That is 8 pounds a week unless they had more than one sub-dealer per college.</p>
<p>Looks they had 1 week of product in inventory. </p>
<p>I don’t get this whole thing about taking the legalization efforts for marijuana into consideration for sentencing. If marijuana were legal, it would make a difference. In Colorado, presumably this wouldn’t be a case.
But it’s either legal or illegal. Right now it’s illegal. Which means that these guys knowingly transgressed the law.
I don’t love speed limits either and I go a little bit faster than them (within about 5 miles) when I can get away with it, but I don’t think that it’s my right. If I think that marijuana should be legalized (which I do if only because of the alternative that’s playing out right now… I think it should be regulated like tobacco), that doesn’t mean I should sell pot out of my basement like these guys. (Forget about the hard drugs they were apparently pushing as well… coke? heroin? ecstasy? those aren’t exactly marijuana…)
There is a concept of a social contract. I have to give up my freedom to do certain things in exchange for the benefits of a cohesive and effective government (I can hear the snickering, just shut up and listen :)), and better yet, living as I do in a democracy, I also know that laws I don’t like can potentially be changed, just as with the marijuana regulations. I live in a civilized society, so I’ll abide by their rules. Especially as they make sense- I know people who have been run over by speeding cars and killed. I know someone who was killed ODing (not on pot). Just because in the moment a law might not be convenient or something you agree with, that doesn’t give you free rein to simply run roughshod over it.
(BTW, I’m a teen, not my seventy-nine year old conservative grandmother :)… just in case you were wondering.)</p>
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<p>Nate Kurtzman. </p>
<p>(Movie reference from Liberty Heights if you didn’t know the reference)</p>
<p>@fluffy2017 Now, I hope you don’t expect me to take you seriously when you come guns a blazing into this thread. </p>
<p>I stopped reading after the Clinton quotes that Sax posted. Sax, so just because someone else does something it makes it okay? Anyone who tries to blame Clinton for their misdeeds needs to have their head & moral compass checked.</p>
<p>Someone else up thread mentioned how a kid from affluent family “changed” from honest & wonderful into a drug dealing xyz…I don’t believe that for one minute. People don’t morph into something completely different. Their character is there, you just didn’t see it. </p>
<p>Newhaven read my posts in this thread and you will see where I stand.</p>
<p>When a person in great power lies very publicly and has no consequences for those lies how does it affect the people who he leads? Has his lack of consequences changed peoples behavior. I think that is a valid question.</p>
<p>I read a survey recently where millenials stated they were less ethical than their parents. Young people on this thread stated that they and others think laws are not being followed by most people. They believe some laws are okay not to follow.</p>
<p>I will restate my stance.</p>
<p>When the consequences are worse than what one gains from breaking the law one will obey the law. When the gain is greater than the consequence people will break laws.</p>
<p>These men set up a business where they sold coke and ecstasy to minors on school property. That is against the law and they should be punished.</p>
<p>When my kids were under 21 I did not serve them or their friends alcohol in my home. I knew they all were drinking outside my home. As parents we were the leaders. The point was one does not get to decide which laws to follow depending on their views. The law is the law whether I agreed with it or not. </p>
<p>Clinton was impeached (tried) by Congress. Just because he wasn’t convicted and thrown out of office for having “sex with that woman” doesn’t mean there weren’t consequences.</p>
<p>Do you think every proven adulterer and liar should be fired? Thrown into jail?</p>
<p>Come take a look at this bridge near where I live. It’s for sale!</p>
<p>Back in the 80s I was counseling young men who had just gotten out of prison on drug related charges. My counseling sessions were part of their parole.</p>
<p>These guys were selling meth and making $2000 a week. There was no way these guys were going to go work for McDonalds for $2 an hour. They were willing to take the consequences if they got caught. Of course no one ever thinks they will get caught.</p>
<p>These two guys who got caught obviously were not concerned with getting caught. My belief is that they believe the consequences won’t apply to them. Lets see if they are right</p>
<p>Old mom. No , I do not believe every ( any) adulterer should go to jail or be fired. Liars should go to jail or be fired if they broke the law and that is the consequence. I do believe in following the laws and rules of society. I do believe in ethical behavior. If that makes me a schmuck so be it because I also believe in the importance of living a life with good character.</p>
<p>Is it okay to cheat on your SATs? If you believe most people cheat on their SATs would you cheat? </p>
<p>Has there been an increase in people breaking the law in the last generation? Has there been a decline in ethical behavior? I have no idea. I would really like to know though.</p>
<p>I would be very concerned about the hash oil. “Cooking” hash oil is a dangerous and potentially explosive endeavor. One of my mom’s dear friends died as a result of injuries sustained when a hash oil operation in a neighboring condo exploded.</p>
<p>Hannahbanana, you are wise beyond your years! </p>
<p>Isn’t everyone on this thread bothered by the fact that the goal of this enterprise was to maximize profits by hooking teenagers on drugs? Some kids will find drugs and use them no matter what, some kids will never touch them no matter what, some kids (and I think that this is the majority) will use or not use drugs depending on peer influence and availability. This enterprise has undoubtedly made the difference for some number of kids in this last group. What if your kid had been affected?</p>
<p>sax, you make such good points.</p>
<p>How did these kids ever manage to keep all this inventory and even do some manufacturing in their parents’ houses? </p>
<p>The hash oil is used in e-cigarettes.</p>
<p>Is it normal for police and prosecutors to release pictures, names, and biographical details of the accused in Pennsylvania? It seems to be to be an unusually complete identification of suspects. If the prosecutors, etc., suspect the accused will not receive serious consequences for their actions, the release of names and photos could be an attempt to place the accusations on the internet forever.</p>
<p>They are not “kids.” Most of the accused are adults. They chose to deal drugs. Given their ages, and their logical customer base, they were selling drugs to minors. I see no reason to treat this as a minor offense. They were white, well educated, from wealthy homes. They’re still a drug-dealing, armed gang.</p>
<p>I also agree that the release of all of the photos and personal info is unusual. I tend to think , however, that it was the media who dug it up and chose to make a story of it. Sadly, who the heck cares if someone from certain parts of the city got busted for drugs. It’s not news. This is man bites dog. So the reporters will play it up and give as much detail as they can. We don’t have 7 page threads about drug busts of this magnitude that involve the type of people that are usually in them, though I don’t doubt for an instant that some digging could find some “pedigreed” drug peddlers involved in all kids of such busts. This was just an easy find that could be exploited for news value and the media is tripping over themselves to create the buzz. That’s what it’s all about And we are contributing to it as are online discussions on this. </p>
<p>Periwinkle, not sure but I think the photos, etc. are public record. But newspapers don’t bother to publish the information for your average run-of-the-mill drug dealer.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure you’re right, oldmom. Mug shots and arrest records (name, address) are public, and they are made public if reporters choose to look them up and publish them. It was not the police and prosecutors who decided to do this. They may very well have decided to publicize the case, though, by holding press conferences.</p>
<p>Agree that there should be consequences for breaking the law, but also agree that this whole thing is way over exposed. The story is in the fact that they were prep school students from a highly respected school, living in an affluent area of Pennsylvania. Not sure if an accurate description of these kids is “wealthy”. I know the area well from years back, and if my memory serves me correctly those addresses are nice upper middle class/middle class neighborhoods. The general area is affluent, but not every family that lives there is wealthy.</p>
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<p>I cannot find the court papers for this case on the internet (maybe someone else did?), but from what I have easily read online, this has never been alleged.</p>
<p>It bothers me that whenever a criminal case is discussed in this forum, so many people are quick to judge, and possibly defame others with statements like the one quoted. It may turn out to be true, but thus far, I haven’t seen anything that proves to me beyond a reasonable doubt, that any of these young people sold coke and ecstasy to minors on school property. </p>
<p>If you respect the law, then you ought to respect the judicial process, and not condemn people before they have been given a fair trial or their day in court.</p>
<p>“Wealthy” is a relative term. They were wealthy in comparison to your typical ring of drug dealers. Nice, upper middle class prep students qualifies as wealthy in this context…</p>
<p>Just to clarify, this would not be OK in Colorado. In Colorado, if you are at least 21 years old, you are allowed to possess 1 oz. or less of marijuana and you are allowed to transfer 1 oz. or less to another individual who is at least 21 years, but you may not receive remuneration. To sell marijuana you must be a licensed retailer. If an individual is caught with 8 oz. or more, it is considered possession with the intent to distribute. Selling marijuana is still a felony that carries a possibility of a 1-12 year prison term and up to a half a million in fines. Sale to a minor carries an additional penalty of 4 years mandatory minimum sentence. </p>
<p>I agree with many here that the story is that several young adults with such potential, opportunity and means chose to use their talents to go into the business of distributing drugs and that part of their business model was to corner the market in the local high schools. I think it is a big deal. </p>