On many a night the last few months, I sat with some friends in a park at night, the only park I know in this city that stays open beyond 8pm. We used to sit there and smoke a joint or two, chit-chat a bit about this and that, and then go our respective ways. As always, the outdoors felt good, what with a light breeze and the sounds of traffic long dead.
There is also a basketball court in the same compound, and we used to sometimes see two policemen sitting there and eating dinner. Since we were not really bothering anyone or making noise or being a nuisance in general, they paid us no heed. Everything went by merrily till this incident.
This cop shows up on his bike, and after parking it, heads straight for where we are sitting. First thing he does in the dark is click a picture of us. Not with his phone, but with a proper Samsung digital camera he is carrying around in his pocket. He then proceeds to question us, and then to search us. Sure enough, we get busted for whatever little we had with us.
Since I don't speak the local language, I was spared most of his homilies, which seemed ridiculously hollow, considering he took away the intoxicants and the rolling paper (as they always do), and took a sizable bribe too, to not lock us up in the police station overnight. Happy Diwali for him and his family, that's for sure.
Anyway, so I read up the law surrounding drug use in the country. Strange, at the very least. For one, there are no different classes of drugs. They are all lumped together, from weed to opium to cocaine to amphetamines. Anyway, if I have 1 gram of weed on me or 1 kilo, the punishment is the same. A fine of Rs 10,000 or prison for 6 months, or both. Same for up to 100 grams of hashish. Just hope the presiding judge didn't have a fight with his wife before leaving the house that morning.
But if I proclaim myself to be an addict, and also volunteer to undergo treatment, I get away without any penalty, neither financial nor temporal. Wow. Goes to show that only the most moronic lawmakers can profess such abject belief in the goodness of my shallow heart to actually give up such a harmless indulgence.
There is also a basketball court in the same compound, and we used to sometimes see two policemen sitting there and eating dinner. Since we were not really bothering anyone or making noise or being a nuisance in general, they paid us no heed. Everything went by merrily till this incident.
This cop shows up on his bike, and after parking it, heads straight for where we are sitting. First thing he does in the dark is click a picture of us. Not with his phone, but with a proper Samsung digital camera he is carrying around in his pocket. He then proceeds to question us, and then to search us. Sure enough, we get busted for whatever little we had with us.
Since I don't speak the local language, I was spared most of his homilies, which seemed ridiculously hollow, considering he took away the intoxicants and the rolling paper (as they always do), and took a sizable bribe too, to not lock us up in the police station overnight. Happy Diwali for him and his family, that's for sure.
Anyway, so I read up the law surrounding drug use in the country. Strange, at the very least. For one, there are no different classes of drugs. They are all lumped together, from weed to opium to cocaine to amphetamines. Anyway, if I have 1 gram of weed on me or 1 kilo, the punishment is the same. A fine of Rs 10,000 or prison for 6 months, or both. Same for up to 100 grams of hashish. Just hope the presiding judge didn't have a fight with his wife before leaving the house that morning.
But if I proclaim myself to be an addict, and also volunteer to undergo treatment, I get away without any penalty, neither financial nor temporal. Wow. Goes to show that only the most moronic lawmakers can profess such abject belief in the goodness of my shallow heart to actually give up such a harmless indulgence.
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"But if I proclaim myself to be an addict, and also volunteer to undergo treatment, I get away without any penalty, neither financial nor temporal. Wow. Goes to show that only the most moronic lawmakers can profess such abject belief in the goodness of my shallow heart to actually give up such a harmless indulgence."
Hahahaha... given the recent turn of events in your life, this quote becomes especially poignant no??? Or is "ironic" the word I'm looking for?? ;) I'm sure you'll tell me how I'm mistaken, and I look forward to that!! Hope you're doing well bro :)
d[*._.*]b
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