cannabisnews.com: Sons Troubles Give Perspective on Drugs, Justice Sons Troubles Give Perspective on Drugs, Justice Posted by FoM on November 23, 1999 at 15:21:09 PT By Rod Grams, Guest Columnist Source: Pioneer Planet In July, while I was in Washington, D.C., I received the telephone call that every parent fears. My child had been missing for several days, and no one knew where he was. Like any parent, I turned to local law enforcement professionals to help find my son. This was not the first time my son had disappeared, or been in trouble. Morgan, who is now 21, has struggled with drug addiction and dealt with the troubles caused by that addiction most of his young-adult life. This has taken its toll on Morgan and our family -- he has been in treatment and he has been in jail.Today, more than four months after my worried phone call, the press has publicly scrutinized my son's misdeeds. With the investigation and facts of the case being little more than an aside, the press has forced my family to endure an ongoing public airing of our pain and of the problems of a troubled child. That is wrong.My public actions, positions and votes as an elected official are open to comments, questions, praise or criticism. The action I took to find my son, however, was done as a father -- not as a U.S. senator. But I am adamant that from this pain will come some good. And if that good is tougher laws that protect our children from drugs -- if it is one fewer son or daughter sucked into the devastation that our family has experienced -- then I will continue to work for what I know is right.As a legislator, my job is to make tough decisions about the laws and penalties I believe will protect our families from drugs and criminals and the devastation they leave in their wake. I am charged with trying to protect our kids, and young men like Morgan, from ever having drugs -- and the havoc they cause -- come into their lives.I know from personal experience the helpless pain that parents and siblings feel when a child is addicted to drugs. I know the fear they live with that their child will end up in jail or dead.As a father, the decisions are just as hard. How do I help my son? Treatment? Discipline? Incarceration? Love? Prayers? Commitment? Yes.The truth is, as a parent, you never stop wanting the best for your child. In Morgan's case, we have been through it all. We have prayed and we have yelled. We have counseled him through treatment and we have stood by him as he suffered the consequences of his actions in jail.And we are not done. We have a long road yet ahead. We will continue to do what we can to save him. We will pray for him and love him -- we will support him and stand by him through whatever punishment and treatment he may need for recovery.As a lawmaker, I know the decisions I make about tough drug laws may affect my son. As a father, I know that without those laws my son might be even worse off than he is now. I also know that I want to do all I can to ensure that no other family faces this kind of destruction and heartbreak.Each time my telephone rings, my heart stops for a moment, for I live with the fear that this time someone is calling to tell me my son's addiction has cost my child his life. That is a terrible fear to live with. I pray that no other parent or family will have to live with that kind of fear and pain.That is why I will continue the fight to rid our nation of drugs and to protect our children. Grams (e-mail: mail_grams grams.senate.gov) is Minnesota's Republican U.S. senator. Published: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 © 1999 PioneerPlanet Related Articles:Above The Law - 11/22/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3749.shtmlInvestigation Looks How Incident Was Handled - 11/16/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3681.shtmlExperts Question Police Treatment Of Grams' Son - 11/14/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3669.shtmlSenator's Son Had Drugs In Car But Wasn't Charged-11/14/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3667.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by Wabo on November 24, 1999 at 12:55:00 PT IMHO >And we are not done. We have a long road yet ahead. We will continue to do what we can to save him. We will pray for him and love him -- we will support himand stand by him through whatever punishment and treatment he may need for recovery.I'm glad the senator loves his son so much.The problem is that millions of Americans love their children just as much or more than the senator loves his. But they are not allowed to look after a child with an abuse problem because their children have been locked away from them in correctional facilities where their problems will only be magnified. This disparity is only one of many in a society where class privilage is de facto class amnesty. This country was founded by the privilaged of their time. In order to secure the cooperation of the peasants in their rebellion against King George, the founders created a document that guaranteed the same rights to the peasants that the privilaged class enjoyed. From the viewpoint of the privilaged class, this was a gross , albeit necessary concession. In their deperation to keep their lands and monies, the founders established a society in which the people--ALL the people, were soverign.Their descendants have been backpeddeling ever since.The war of the classes has escallated as those who hold the power their status affords them struggle to minimize the rights they had reluctantly given to those whose lives they control. It is a systematic and stealthfully invasive effort that permiates aspects of all of our lives, and only comes to light in examples such as Morgan Grams situation where his father's *non-action* results in his son's being spared the fate of someone with less political fortitude.The War on Drugs is only one tip of a very large iceburg.Wabo [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by J Christen-Mitchell on November 23, 1999 at 19:29:35 PT: For The Children Drugs must be stopped for the childrens sake...Not the 1 out of 10 children on ritallin, dexidrine, prozac or paxill.they will stay drugged, with more to follow...Not for the 1 out of 9 school age children who have a parent in prison and are twice as likely to use, they will be jailed...Not for the urban black male, 50% will die or be imprisoned...Drugs must be stopped for the rich children, as always. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Jeaneous on November 23, 1999 at 18:01:53 PT: My note to him... I think this man is way off track..He's blaming the drugs for a humans faults. I wrote this to him...Sir,The point you are missing sir, is that it is not the drug that causes the problem, it is the personality of the user. There are many who have seen and lived through what you are living. Most of those will tell you it is an addictive personality that is the problem. That the way they were raised, the lack of self esteem, the feeling of being alone, Pain, all of these were an issue in their drug abuse. Your job is not to protect society from drugs. Your job is to implement the will of your constituents. They voted for you to represent their views, not your own views or opinions. Too many representatives forget what exactly is their purpose of their job, to speak the citizens voices even if it concerns drugs or guns. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on November 23, 1999 at 16:00:19 PT Blinders...and inertia In a nutshell, Rainbow's right. This guy just does doesn't seem to get it. At the beginning of this century, his son would probably been one of a very few in his community who was a 'closet addict'. The attitude back then was that just like the 'black sheep' of the family, or like the nephew who was an 'accident', the less said about the better. The habit would probably have been maintained in quiet ignominy, the user not wanting to risk the public opprobrium of disclosure, and would probably lived out his (albeit, possibly shortened) life with a minimal degree of state intrusion, much less losing all his wordly possession to forfeiture.But now, because of the WoSD, we have spectacles of *de facto* favoritism being vainly explained away by a Drug Warrior member of the ruling class. Were his son a member of the hoi polloi, as was his son's travelling companion, the fate is considerably less kind. And had his son's friend been a minority member, he would have been lucky to escape with his life. Instead, this scion of the ruling class is driven home by the nice policeman...who knows which side of the bread the poliitical butter is on. This Senator and his equally short-sighted brethren created the mess his son is in partly through their own tunnel vision and zealotry. And now he is reaping what he has sown for millions.The fruit of the poisoned tree is very bitter, indeed, isn't Senator? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by greenfox on November 23, 1999 at 15:52:52 PT Twit That's because he's a twit, and a hyppocrate. That's ok, he's on the good shit too. :) We love our lawmakers! (But honestly, the laws may be screwed up, but does that stuff a true stoner? Naaah) [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by rainbow on November 23, 1999 at 15:40:32 PT He doesn't get it He is forever wrapped up in punishment.rainbow [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: