I read that Cameron Douglas, Michael Douglas’30-year old son was arrested for drug possession again and that the amount of the methamphetamines found was such he’s being charged with selling and distribution. If convicted the penalty is a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. “What makes an adult brought up with every advantage engage in drug selling?” I asked a friend. “Easy,” she said, “When you have an iconic father and grandfather, a stepmother who’s not only close to your age but a sex-pot, and your father was a lousy parent, who are you?” Her point was that you do what you have to do in order to establish your identity as separate from that of your famous parents. All’s that has truth of course, but what about a ghetto or barrio kid who’s had lousy parenting, whose father is gone and whose mother is too busy working and spending 4 hours on the bus to get to work to offer much guidance, who has no role model and no opportunities? That person struggles for identity too. When he or she ends up selling drugs, there’s no one to offer an easy explanation of why they did what they did. There will also be no one to pay experienced lawyers and his chances of ending up serving 10 years to life will be, if not certain, at least very much higher.