Do the right thing

In 10 days, it will be one year since I was arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana, and, lemme tell you, that ain't no kind of fun. \nLet's say you're like me and everything ends relatively well -- meaning you don't crash the car and you don't kill or injure yourself, your buddies or any other people. There are still some pretty annoying consequences.\nFirst, there's the time. There are court dates, of which I had two. There are the hour-long monitoring sessions at the courthouse, of which I had five. There are the 10 hours of drug counseling and 12 hours of drug education -- a total of nine classes. And there's the time spent in the police station being questioned and a possible night in jail, depending on the situation. \nThen there's the money.\nFor all five of my monitoring sessions, I had to get a copy of my driving record from the DMV. Each one costs $12. Each monitoring session costs $25. So that's five driving records and five monitoring sessions for a total of $185. \nMy 22 hours of education and counseling cost $425, and that was as a "moderate level risk" because the amount of pot in my bloodstream was very low. (Many of the people in my classes were significant risks, which added about 15 more hours and $200 dollars more.) After I was through with all that, I still had to pay $580 in various court fees. \nSo that's $1190, and that doesn't even include whatever the lawyer fees were, which my parents were kind enough to cover. Regardless, I didn't really have an extra $1200 lying about, but perhaps I'm the only one.\nObviously, driving high was one of the dumbest things I've ever done, but let's be honest -- I'd probably still be doing it if I hadn't gotten caught. While I recognize the physical dangers of driving under the influence, I've been more motivated by the added penalties from a second DUI arrest, which can include jail time, a suspended license, more drug/alcohol education, probation and community service. \nAmazingly enough, many of the people in my classes were not concerned with those consequences, as quite a few of them had multiple DUI's. I found this surprising at first, but even more surprising was how common these people were. Eighty-five percent of all people who get a first DUI will get a second one some time in their lives.\nLogically, everyone knows that driving drunk or stoned is unsafe and can result in injury or death. I knew that. But when it comes time to make the right decision, it can be hard to pass your keys to a buddy, because that is an acceptance of your own mortality. Most people do not want to see themselves as someone with the capacity to end another's life. Saying, "I'm too messed up to drive," is an admission to that.\nAnd like anything else, deciding to drive under the influence is easier once you've done it. For those of us who have gotten caught once, there is an urge to say, "Well, if I just fix whatever it was that got me pulled over, I'll be fine" -- as if the problem wasn't that you were driving stoned, but rather that you were driving at three in the morning with your brights on. \nWe see ourselves as the unlucky ones because we got caught, when of course it's the opposite: that I got caught and was allowed to see my faults without someone getting killed makes me the lucky one.\nNow when I drive, I always come back alive and not in handcuffs.\nLuck has nothing to do with it.