163. LEGAL ENTANGLEMENTS

What Research Shows

For the average person, the legal system is a distant abstraction. Being subpoenaed to testify in a drug trial or named a "person of interest" in a gang investigation is virtually unheard of. If your loved one suddenly finds themselves tangled in this kind of legal machinery, do not fall for the excuse that they were simply in the "wrong place at the wrong time." In the highly secretive world of drug markets and gang activity, outsiders are viewed with deep suspicion. If your loved one knows enough to be called as a witness, or if the police are pressuring them for information, it means they have been granted access to that criminal ecosystem. They aren't just observing from a distance; they are likely integrated into it—often as a customer trying to fund their own habit.

What You See

The police do not investigate people at random. Neither do you. for both there is the probable cause that something is not as it is supposed to be. You see something that is out of place in their lives (an empty liquor bottle, a bong, pills), and, likewise, the police see things that don't add up unless the person is somehow involved. I can be an overt sign of illegal behavior, but most likely - in the early stages of the addiction cycle - it is a closeness to the illegality that counts. The best example is that you find out that your loved one has been riding around in a car driven by a drunk person who got a DUI charge and your loved one is asked to testify. If your loved one is under scrutiny, it is because their name has surfaced in wiretaps, their car has been spotted at drug houses, or informants have pointed them out. Whichever the case, what you are seeing is out of the ordinary for most people and should be followed up directly and quickly.

What You Can Do

Forbidding your loved one from seeing the "wrong crowd" rarely works. It can drive them further away from you and toward a tighter bond with the others. Instead, have honest discussions about the severe legal consequences of their associations. You can also enlist positive, old friends to speak with them. Legal trouble is proof they are deep in a drug subculture; they must confront this painful reality and see the direct consequences of their dangerous choices.