My father would have done the same thing, except he would have given it away and would have beaten me to death if I had used pot or drugs.

    My personal opinion is never get there in the first place.
    The father and the son obviously cared for each other, From the son's statement to the media he is pretty much a self centered person. In his words of "me and my father ...... " the second person should be mentioned before himself and out of the respect, always mention your loved ones and others before one brought up "me"

    This could have been prevented if the parents had pay attention to his childhood development. If the parents care enough, love is not to let the children go free range without proper supervision and guidance. I had found out no family does the daily communications these days . I don't mean text or email or posting on the social media.
    I meant personal contact.
    My advise to almost all the young parents I had met is to spend a little time with your children, daily.
    Even 30 minutes a day will do wonders. They could use that time to discuss what happened in school and homework, events happened in their child's life. A little caring goes a long way.
    When one of my child came home from first grade one day, frustrated, crying and confused. I had to find out what happened. Being bullied and rejected from a small group was quite hurting for a young child. After finding out the facts, with comfort and firm assurance that was not the end of the world. I reminded my child to keep staying ahead of the rest of the school and explore new boundary when reached what they teach in the classroom.

    Nothing to worry about I told my child. Even if you'll run into the same group in Middle school and High School, they will not be among your peer. Our school system starting the advance classes in Middle School. This child of ours is graduating from the top University in our State among the top 5% group, with honor from two majors and going on to a top medicine school. I'm especially proud of her achievement since both her degrees were not the easiest to complete, to come out in the top 5% of all the schools is quite an accomplishment.

    Looking back, none of those kids whom gave my child a hard time in the first grade were anywhere close to my child's achievement. Half of them did not go through higher education, only one is graduating from a nice college. I hate to think what would be, If my wife and I did not take notice of our child's distress and never gave my child the proper support when needed.

    I'm not trying to tell the others how to care for their children's development . I hold no paper degree in that field.
    I do know caring for a child is not as simple as feed them , cloth them, buy them toys and fill their demands.
    It's like tending a garden, one can't just spread the seeds and water everyday then expect automatic successful result.

    Things were different in my house growing up. First off, my Dad would never have bought me an SUV to drive in the first place. I had limited use of Mom's car in high school, and anytime I asked my Dad for anything he would simply say, "no," and "get a job."

    I also learned through my brother's stupidity what would happen if I even tried pot. My little brother decided to try some with a friend, and when they were caught, my Dad not only beat his ass, but had a meeting with the parents of my brothers friend, and both boys were told never to see each other ever again. I don't think my brother ever did pot after that.

    I had to work for anything I ever got or owned. This father's mistake is confusing love for enabling. The fact that this father felt guilty for selling the SUV is the first mistake of the parent. The 2nd is the fact that the son is 18 years old, doing drugs and still living in the house. If that were my son, I would have tossed his ass out on the street already. And walking off a job voluntarily while doing drugs? I'd drag your ass down to the police station and turn you in myself.

    We've gotten way too soft, and far too enabling with our kids today. They have too much stuff and not enough motivation to get a job and do something with their lives. Stop giving them stuff and make them earn every thing they get and maybe we won't have these problems. And yes, a little corporal punishment before they are teenagers often sends them a long lasting message to keep them on the straight and narrow.

    Sadly, the way out society is today, if you touch a child they lock the parent up. And that's what is wrong with our society and why the kids have ZERO respect for any authority.

      PIGDivot

      Every family has their own way of passing their value and their point of view to their youngsters. However, there is the fundamental of being a decent citizen. Enjoy the freedom without infringing on other's right and freedom.

      We lack in the department of self discipline.

      I thought it would be much easier to prevent heading into the wrong direction before embarking on the life journey. Kids have no sense of that, and it's the parent's duty to get their kids a good start in life. All should be starting before kids reach the age of 3. I saw parents wait for their kids to be in Kindergarten before talking sense to them, it'll be too late. Put the kids on the right track and they will figure out if that's for them when they harnessed the good sense of value later on.

        Did not read the link but got the jist of the article.
        Back when I was a youngster my family was friends with a successful Dr.
        He bought his oldest son a new 1967 Mustang GT500.
        6 months later when his second report card arrived with grades that were not up to par...sold it !

        rob