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Today John Lennon appeared in court to enter a plea in response to the drug possession charges leveled against him last month. Accepting full responsibility for the cannabis found in the flat — which let Yoko, who was still convalescing from her miscarriage, off the hook — he pled guilty and received a fine, along with a warning that if he did it again he would go to jail. Reflecting later, he said,
It was better when it happened. It [had been] been building up for years – thinking something would happen. Now, the fear has gone a bit. Now you know what it’s like, it’s a bit different. And it’s not too bad; a £150 fine.
Reminds me of the old Steve Martin line: “I wouldn’t smoke marijuana in California now. You could get a ticket for that.”
Nowadays, of course, widespread legalization has changed the landscape even further. According to a recent NY Times article, some drug-sniffing dogs are now being retired because they weren’t trained to distinguish between cannabis and other, still-illegal substances. There’s a good song in there somewhere; a bluesy number about an old dog who’s obsolete because he can’t tell one drug from the other. If only John were around to write it.
Reminds me of one of my favorite pot busts. Tim Lincecum has an 1/8 in his car, and a week after signing a $40 million dollar contract has to pay a $500 fine. His quote in court was something like “I’ll try not to let this happen again”