Home Invasion

[Chuck]

Wednesday Just Before Summer

It was after school Wednesday afternoon that Bobby had baseball
practice, he was glad to be there and especially glad to be in the
playoffs. His dad’s help and tutoring had paid off big time. He knew
his mom & dad were proud of his baseball skills but especially proud
and thankful for his scholarship to play ball. It was also after
school Wednesday afternoon that Wendy had her last meeting with her
high school honor society as a junior. She was looking forward to next
year and being a senior already. Her mothers grace and poise had
carried her a long way towards being who she was, and she knew it.
Margaret got home early and began dinner preparations. She was very
proud of her family and anxious to hear about everyone’s day. She
looked forward to the day when they would pay off the mortgage but
knew it wouldn’t be soon with one of her kids in collage and one on
the way. Robert senior had left work thirty minutes ago and was
maneuvering through traffic out of the city like everyone else
destined for home. In twenty minutes he would sit down with his family
eat dinner, help with dishes and catch a little evening news. It was
late that night after the kids were in bed when Margaret and Robert
retired to their room. Robert closed the door and opened a window.
Margaret retrieved an ash tray and they sat on the bed. Neither of
them smoked tobacco or even drank except socially. Robert lit a joint
and took a puff and handed it to Margaret who also took a small puff
and handed the joint back to Robert. A couple puffs more and they
extinguished and set aside the remaining half a joint. They lay back
on the bed and talked about their day, children, jobs and futures.
Robert thought he heard something down stairs. Margaret heard it too,
so Robert went down stairs. As he passed the front door it exploded in
on him. Five heavily armed men crashed through the debris shouting
POLICE, SEARCH WARRANT, STAY DOWN, SHOW ME YOUR HANDS. Someone yelled
GUN! As Robert raised his head to see one of them taking down an
antique replica shotgun from over the fire place he saw the sole of a
boot coming toward his head. The last thing he heard that night
besides the screams of his children and wife were, STAY DOWN. Robert
lay unconscious on the floor just feet inside his front door. Robert
and Margaret awoke in jail their children in foster care. The children
were told about their parent’s secret marijuana plant in the upstairs
closet. Apparently a concerned family member or neighbor had turned
them in. Local law enforcement ran an article in the local paper about
the Gateway drug marijuana which led to cocaine, a life of crime and
eventual death from addiction. They were urged by local law
enforcement to watch neighbors as well as family and report suspicious
activity. They were also cautioned that the growing season was
approaching. Robert lay awake in his cell thinking about the previous
day, the future of his kids and wife and what impact the stigma of
being a marijuana smoker would have on their lives. There are two
kinds of armed home invasions in America today. Legal and illegal home
invasions and they take place every day by the thousands. Would you
have turned in Anne Frank’s family? Even if it was the law, would you?
Who is in the neighbor’s closet or attic? Drug crazed marijuana
smokers do not exist. It is a propaganda scare tactic. No one is going
to smoke marijuana then rob and kill you. There is no such thing as
marijuana addiction or a marijuana addict. There has never been a
marijuana overdose. Marijuana prohibition creates criminals, places
citizens in danger, employs hundreds of thousands of criminals while
the unemployment rate for the rest of us sky rockets. Marijuana
prohibition makes sure marijuana is available unregulated and untaxed
on every street corner in America.