The Good, The Bad, and The Busted

Hello all, I have been a long time browser of GrassCity and decided to join today. This is going to be my story, I would greatly appreciate it if you read it all the way through and left your thoughts.
I started smoking junior year in high school when I met this kid named Jack. He was one of those cool, Grateful Dead types that seem to be dying out in my area. With me being a punker, we became really close.
Before I ever held a pipe in my hand I was an advocate for legalization, probably since I was 10. I had done the research and read the stories was living with stoners at the time (although I didn't know it at the time). I knew I wanted to try it.
When the time came, Jack and I met downtown by the river and we cruised in my '87 VW Cabby down some dirt roads to smoke. He handed me a bag of about 4 grams of kush, Lemon Diesel I believe. Something high in Sativa at the least. We smoked it out of a can (hell, thats all we smoked out of for 5-6 months) and immediately I was baked before the first bowl was finished. I knew from the start that I loved it. I can't exactly remember the crazy road that night turned down, but I knew I had to stop driving. At the end of it I was taking a nap by the river in my car, woke up and headed straight to Wendy's and then home. This sort of thing became a regular occurance.
My father immediately knew I was getting high. I came home one night after school and my mother was gone. He had a couple of beers and was getting drunk, not there yet. He asked me if I smoked weed. I lied, then told the truth. He asked me if I had any and I said no. He led me out to the garage and handed me his piece. I was slightly shocked. I assumed he had smoked in the past, but didn't even think that he still did. We smoked down and did almost every night after that. Eventually I became his main source for good weed.
Lots of things happened after that. Mostly good, like meeting a medical grower that hooked me up with bubble hash for cheap. But the biggest event in my smoking career happened last December. 
I never brought anything to school since there were random drug searches. They would put us on lock-down and bring in the dogs, then call out the students that had their lockers/vehicles hit. One happened around the end of December, about a week before vacation. Lock-down for an hour, then the Assistant Principles would go room to room calling kids out. I wasn't concerned, until I was called out. I though, "shit, did I forget something? Could the dogs hit on my cigarettes?" I came to the conclusion of no and no as the AP and I walked to my vehicle. Those big black SUVs were out there waiting for me and it scared the living hell out of me, despite the fact that I knew I didn't have anything. I unlocked the door to my vehicle and the AP searched my vehicle, to find nothing. Duh. Then the Principal wanted to give it a shot (I guess I just "looked" like a stoner). He found a small gold dice box containing about .5 of a gram. I immediately say, without thinking, "f*ck you dad." Yeah, it was his. 
Skip forward through the whole suspension process and going in front of a magistrate yada yada. I'll give you my shortened version.
My judge, a major c**t muncher, disregarded my 3.8 GPA and letters of recommendations from my boss, a principal from another high school, and the instructor of a college class I had taken. She just laughed like I was a hardened criminal that paid for these letters. She had me do a drug test. I failed (lets just say Redi-Clean doesn't work). She called me a "no good kid that has no respect for my parents." I was red with fury. I love my parents, they are the most amazing people I know and couldn't stand the slander! 
Here came the sentencing: 2 years supervised probation, 30 days community service, drug testing every week, some amount of fines that I can't remember off the top of my head, and a weekend of Marijuana Awareness Program (which was, ironically, scheduled on 4/20 weekend).
Here I am now. Clean for 8 months and I've finished my probation terms with 16 more months to go. 
I tell ya, when I get off I'm going to be so high I won't even know my own name.

 

Don't mind at all. In my state, Michigan, we have something called 7411 (not sure if it exists in other states) that allows your charge to be sealed from employer's background checks. You can only get it if it is your first drug charge and if you violate the terms of your probation its voided. 
I told my current employer in the interview that I had a misdemeanor drug charge, she didn't care at all and I work at an international border! Schools generally don't care, unless you're going to an Ivy League. Not sure about scholarships since my schooling is 100% paid for by the state (was in the program before I was busted). Generally, a minor pot charge is looked over and shrugged off. Not a big deal, I've had teachers with charges and currently had their med card.
In Michigan medical marijuana is legal but still sketchy. Police will still harass you and the dispensary in my area was raided by state cops once. Usually if you abide by the restrictions, you won't be arrested. Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Flint have all decriminalized up to (at least) a half ounce of pot. Local police will not bother you, but state cops may since they are, you know, state. 
More often than not, in Michigan, if you are arrested for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia (not the sale) you get off easy. Six months probation with a drop here and there with light fines. I simply got one of the worst judges in the state, just my luck

 

[quote name="Snoop Toad" post="18638566" timestamp="1378511247"]What was the marijuana awareness program like?[/quothe]
Believe it or not, It was interesting and fun. We stayed in a cabin in the woods and were served amazing food! Walking in, I was expecting it to be like an intervention of sorts, but not at all. They taught us real facts (for the most part) and we discussed our experiences. Everyone there, including the instructors, were great! Friendly, knowledgeable, and stoners. It was a lot like a stoner gathering but with no drugs. Haha.
By far, the worse things were the "team building" exercises and the speakers. The team building exercises treated us as either felons or 3 year holds, it was quite humiliating. The speakers were three recovering addicts. The first guy was in your face and crazy. Gateway drug and man boob crazy, you know? The second guy was one that had started with pot and loved it, but then got into cocaine and was hooked. He was actually sad that he couldn't smoke pot without having the urge to go back to coke, I really felt for him. The third was just an old guy that became an alcoholic at a very young age, he never smoked weed. He was suicidal, depressed, and alone. I seriously felt horrible for him and upon talking to him on one of our smoke breaks, he was a great guy that had nothing against weed.
Overall, it was an experience I'm glad I had. It was a bunch of stoners on probation stuck there on 4/20. We just talked about drugs and ways to fool drug tests. If it wasn't $500 I would recommend everyone take it.