Indiana Teen Arrested for Selling Marijuana

 Posted on January 05, 2013 in Drug Charges

“Authorities in northwestern Indiana have charged a 16-year-old boy with dealing marijuana on school property, saying he sold marijuana-laced brownies to fellow students,” according to the Chicago Tribune. When confronted with a plastic container and metal baking pan with brownie crumbs in his locker that smelled of marijuana, the boy admitted to either selling or giving away the brownies to fellow students, and “police reported finding two $20 bills in his pocket that the boy admitted came from selling the brownies.” More lockers were searched and several students were questioned, but no more evidence or confessions were found in the 2,100-student school.

The boy’s arrest comes on the heels of some major legislation elsewhere in the country that would make his crime a moot point. In November of this year, both Colorado and Washington voted to fully legalize the drug, and according to Rolling Stone magazine there are several more states throughout the union poised to do so in 2013. “As many as 58 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be legal,” the magazine reports, including former president Jimmy Carter. According to Rolling Stone, Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, California, and New Jersey are expected to join Colorado and Washington in the legalization of recreational pot in the next few years.

One reason that pot is up for legalization is the cost to taxpayers to keep offenders, like the 16-year-old Indiana boy, in the legal system. According to Illinois Times, at the end of 2011 there were 777 people locked up in Illinois prisons for cannabis offenses. “At an average annual cost of $21,911 per inmate… the public is paying more than $17 million per year to keep pot peddlers and users behind bars,” according to Illinois Times. For a state with serious budget concerns, this is a nice chunk of change.

If you or someone you know is facing drug charges for marijuana, or any other drug, don’t go through it alone. Contact a dedicated Illinois criminal defense attorney today.

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