Marshall,
One of my best friends before I went to the seed did serious prison time for selling drugs. His name was Mark. He was an adopted kid, and his parents were like family to me too. His mom had grown up on a farm, and his dad was a blue collar guy who had worked his way up, and was one of the smartest people I'd ever known. His parents were not perfect - his mom was working and putting herself thru school, his dad would come home from work and drink a couple of beers, most likely one too many, and his sister, who was adopted too, had some mental issues. But Mark was one of the sweetest guys you'd ever want to know. I got to know him because my sister had a big crush on him - Mark was a 'babe magnet' in Jr. High, looking a little bit like that painting of Jesus with long dark hair. He became a really great friend, and we shared a lot. Naturally, we got high together too. I remember he experimented a bit more than I did. While I was more of a 'brain' in High School, he was solidly in the Freak camp. But Mark was one of those natural charmers who everybody likes. He was a ladies man too, but always the type of guy that old girlfriends would keep in touch with. We had lost touch a bit cause I went to college, and he was going to go to trade school. Then I went in the Seed. I heard thru the grapevine that he'd gone to prison. Well, when I left the Seed one of the first things I did was look Mark up.
Mark was no living at home. His front teeth had been lost in a prison fight; he lost that fight and also was raped. He became an alcoholic, and when he left prison, became a biker and in an accident, lost both of his legs. When I saw him, he was a shadow of the person I knew. He spent his days getting stoned and sitting in bars.
Mark might have had some problems as a kid, but believe me, he was the kid that everybody loved. Sending somebody like this to prison? Of course, selling drugs is wrong. But destroying some kids life for it?
No, I can't say 'society' is totally responsible and Mark is guilt-free. But?
So FT. L, the fact that Marshall avoided prison - fantastic. And he seems like a good guy today.