A friend of mine
No really, a friend of mine (We'll call him Matt for that is his name), used to sell a lot of weed at school. On one occassion, a kid he sold it to took umbrage at the quantity/quality of the narcotics and decided the best course of action was to inform the head teacher of what was going on. Matt was duly summoned to the head's office and seeing the other kid sat outside, immediately twigged what was going on and damn near shat himself, painfully aware of the half ounce of grass he had in his rucksack.

The two sat outside the office for a while, exchanging frosty looks until the other kid was called in, to give his version of events before Matt had to face the music. Matt noticed that the other kid had left his bag behind and did the only sensible thing, transferred his stash from his own bag to the other guy's.

The other kid came out, Matt went in and was duly told to empty his bag. With his best look of innocence on his face, Matt emptied the contents of his bag and asked politely why he had been called in, there being very little of anything in there and certainly no drugs. The head told him he'd been accused of selling drugs to which Matt replied that the other kid had it in for him and was making up stories and in fact it was the other guy who was the drug dealer. The kid was called in, searched and found to have a large quantity of drugs in bag.

Matt was exonerated and lost about £30 worth of weed. The other kid was suspended and given the proximity to the GCSE's, missed rather a lot of important learning time and failed most of them as a result, thereby ending any aspirations he might once have had about going to college and uni thereafter. By all accounts he's now a Tesco lifer...

I've done some pretty horrible things in my time but essentially fucking up someone's entire life to avoid getting in trouble yourself takes some beating in my book.
(Ed Can Do, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 13:42, 14 replies)

Doesn't deserve to go to hell at all
The kid who told the head teacher deserved everything that happened to him...

It's one thing grassing up a dealer if you disapprove of drugs - but if you're one of his customers, you're also breaking the law, and informing on the dealer if you're not happy with the deal is, well, just not cricket.

The punishments the kid suffered are only what would have happened to Matt, so I think it's a fair exchange. I'd certainly do the same, given the chance.

(sadly, when it happened to me, the police parked their cars round the corner so I walked into the head's office unawares, and with a moderate amount on me)
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 13:46, closed)

agree
That is some real-life John Lennon 'Instant Karma' (ic) retribution - nice!
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 13:50, closed)

Emphatically disagree.
Whilst buyer-kid may not have been perfect, his failings in no way exonerate the dealer (either for his dealing, a worse transgression than buying; or for falsely incriminating the buyer).

And I fail to see why informing on someone who has ripped you off is somehow "not cricket": if they ripped you off -- what do they expect, a reward?
(haberman is singing in the changes, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 14:13, closed)

No, but if you are buying drugs
Then you will from time to time get ripped off. You can't complain to Trading Standards!

I accept such occasions as part and parcel of dealing in and buying something illegal, and swallow the loss.

Particularly if you're dealing in school I think it's implicit that the activity needs to be kept secret. I could understand it a bit more if the kid had been caught with the weed he'd bought and pressured to reveal his source or be expelled. But just going and complaining because you're pissed off is pretty cold!

I also disagree with your assertion that buying is a lesser crime than dealing; in the eyes of the law it may be so, but simple free market capitalism is at work here - supply and demand. The dealer is only dealing drugs because people want to buy them.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 14:21, closed)

To
be fair, and I could be getting a bit Daily Mail here but if I am then sorry, this guy potentially fucked up the other kids life...

Which is a bit harsh, although to be fair had it been the other way round then Mat would have been shafted...
(Fuckarma was masturbating into your handbag, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 14:32, closed)

Yes, but
the other kid was not blameless at all!! He was buying weed in school, viewed as almost as much of a crime as selling it... They certainly threw people out of my school for both.

If he'd slipped the weed into an innocent kid's bag and they'd been searched and then framed, then I'd support your views.

Kudos to Matt for thinking quickly and dodging the bullet.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 14:47, closed)

I
didn't say he was blameless but stuffing up a life like that is a bit harsh, although since then the guy would have opportunities to improve himself if he had the motivation...

Then again, who hasn't done a softarse thing as a kid...

and you're right, he was a paying customer so was just as guilty...
(Fuckarma was masturbating into your handbag, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 15:05, closed)

But that's what I mean
How is the kid that bought the weed entitled to 'ruin Matt's life' (not that this would in fact ruin anyone's life at all, and I'm speaking from experience), but if Matt took the opportunity to save his skin by doing the only thing possible and reciprocating, it is suddenly crime of the century?!

If the kid's a 'Tesco lifer' that'll be because he's a loser anyway, not because he got caught with half ounce of draw in school.

This argument is getting pretty circular (and strangely, also diagonal) now!
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 15:10, closed)

Looks
to me that we're basically reinforcing each others argument...

MAN HUG!
(Fuckarma was masturbating into your handbag, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 15:13, closed)

you're right, he couldn't complain to Trading Standards
... hence the grassing up.

As for your vaunted secrecy, as far as I can tell the code-of-silence "encouraged" amongst school children largely protects the bullies and other abusive types from discipline ... it does little for the ordinary pupil, and perpetuates abuse of the unfortunate pupil-victim.

There is no reason the dealer deserved to get off scot-free, even if the buyer deserved some punishment. Who did the code of silence protect? What did those other pupils, who knew who the dealer _really_ was, do? Code of silence? But those other pupils are mostly buyers, not dealers.
(haberman is singing in the changes, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 16:15, closed)

How is a dealer a bully or abusive type?
They are businessmen servicing a demand, as I said above. Apart, of course, from the ones that inject heroin into sweets and give them out to get 5 year olds addicted, that you read about in the Daily Mail *rolls eyes*

There is no 'code of silence', it just isn't the done thing. Both parties are participating in something illegal so both should keep quiet about it. If I got searched whilst walking down the street and got caught with weed, I would lie to the police when asked where I bought it from, because I'm not a cunt, and I don't believe someone else should have to suffer because I got arrested.

Back to the actual story, as I stated above it's not even as if the kid got caught with his stash and was forced to give up his dealer's name under threat of expulsion. He went and grassed him up because he was pissed off with him.

Now this is something that's obviously an occupational hazard if you're a dealer, but as I also said, if you sell someone weed, you sort of don't have to mention the fact that the transaction doesn't need mentioning to teachers/police/other similar figures, because both parties know it's illegal, and both parties are breaking the law.

I just think what the kid did was cold, and cuntish, and he definitely comes out of this story worse from my perspective. And I bet all the money in my wallet that his story to the head didn't consist of 'so and so sold me some draw but it was underweight, what a bastard' - I'd imagine something more along the lines of 'do you know what Matt's up to? He's selling DRUGS, the junkie bastard!' *innocent childish smile*

I know who I consider to be most dishonest in this story.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 16:27, closed)

Harsh
I am not saying that this is right or wrong but...


It's what I would have done.
(powervator and NONE SHALL PASS, Tue 16 Dec 2008, 16:26, closed)

ruining lives
I left school only passing my English GCSE. I am now at uni studying for a degree. Just because someone failed their GCSE's it doesn't mean their life is ruined, there are chances to improve your education other than secondary school.
(laurasuper, Wed 17 Dec 2008, 2:29, closed)

Exactly
I was thrown out of school before my A Levels for, er, selling weed in school. I went on to complete my A Levels as an external candidate, and now have a degree as well.

Hence why I said I was speaking from experience above. I think my off-the-rails years expanded my horizons and made me a better person in all.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Wed 17 Dec 2008, 9:45, closed)