Political Priorities: There's that "Killer Weed" and then there's that "Real Killer Weed"

I recall being at a supervised release revocation hearing for a client. It was the third time he had tested positive for marihuana, so the judge was somewhat upset that my client had not taken advantage of the earlier breaks he had given him.

A brief recess had been called, and I immediately ran outside to the courthouse entrance to smoke a cigarette. My client came with me. My cousin's wife, who at the time clerked for a federal judge, came out on her way to lunch and, seeing me smoking, said "Tom, you're going to kill yourself. Stop smoking!"

I could only wonder at the irony of the fact that I was trying to avoid having my client go to prison for having smoked marihuana which, while illegal, would hardly end up killing him, while I was standing outside the courthouse at the first chance to smoke a cigarette, which will probably kill me or at least cause serious health problems, but my weed was legal. My client did not even smoke cigarettes because, as he told me, "that stuff screws you up." I went back in and I believe that I was able to convince the judge not to revoke supervised release.