It all started when an "extremely small" package of marijuana fell from the pocket of 19-year-old Sean LaCroix at his grandparents’ house, where he lived. His grandmother found it and put it in the car so she could turn it over to police. The car belonged to her husband, John LaCroix, fire chief of Newton, MA and was subsequently discovered when fire-fighters cleaned his vehicle at the station.

I know, this is really one of the most uninteresting stories one could possibly imagine, but here’s how the press reacted throughout Massachusetts:

Marijuana found in car of Newton Fire Chief
Boston Globe, United States - Aug 22, 2008
By Rachana Rathi, Globe Staff Police are investigating Newton Fire Chief Joseph LaCroix after his firefighters allegedly discovered marijuana in his ...

 

Marijuana found in fire chief's vehicle
WHDH-TV, MA - Aug 22, 2008
NEWTON, Mass. -- During the routine cleaning of Chief Joseph LaCroix's City issued vehicle, firefighters discovered an envelope that contained a small ...

 

BREAKING NEWS: Marijuana found in Fire Chief's car
Wicked Local, MA - Aug 22, 2008
By Gail Spector, TAB staff Firefighters cleaning Chief Joseph LaCroix's car yesterday found a bag of marijuana, mayoral spokesman Jeremy Solomon confirmed...

 

Drugs are found in car of Newton Fire Chief
WHDH-TV, MA - Aug 23, 2008
NEWTON, Mass. -- Newton Fire Chief, Joseph Lacroix, is fighting back against the discovery of marijuana found in his city issued car. ...

 

Newton Fire Chief Joseph LaCroix said he does not know how ...
Newton TAB, MA - Aug 22, 2008
By Chrissie Long and Gail Spector, staff writers A bag of marijuana was found inside Newton fire chief Joseph LaCroix’s car on Thursday but the chief says ...

 

Newton fire chief says he does not know how marijuana got into his ...
Daily News Tribune, MA - Aug 22, 2008
By Chrissie Long and Gail Spector, staff writers A bag of marijuana was found inside Newton fire chief Joseph LaCroix’s car on Thursday but the chief says ...

 

Sorry, Grandpa: Marijuana in Newton Fire Chief's car belonged to ...
Boston Globe, United States - 2 hours ago
The marijuana discovered last week by firefighters in Newton Fire Chief John LaCroix's city-issued car belonged to his grandson and was mistakenly put in ...

What is this, if not a towering monument of idiocy? All of this serves as a frustrating reminder that there are two kinds of people in America: those who believe marijuana poses a grave threat to public safety, and those who actually know what marijuana is. The latter group typically believes it should be regulated like alcohol, while the former believes we are all just one stoned fire-fighter away from perishing in a terrible conflagration.

Nevermind that the marijuana turned out not to belong to the fire chief. Even if it had, wouldn't the citizens of Newton know by now whether or not their fire chief was capable of arranging for local fires to be put out?

As amusing as it may be to witness this colossal media circus surrounding something so mindbogglingly trivial, don't forget that Chief LaCroix nearly had his career ruined over this. If his grandson hadn't taken responsibility, he'd likely have been forced into retirement, unable to prove his innocence. Can you even imagine how many times a small bag of misplaced marijuana has led to an absurd outcome like that? It is the legacy of our nation's brain-dead marijuana policy to produce epic fiascoes like this on a daily basis.