Jeff Gibson’s column “Corruption Lifts the Lorax” (Daily Nexus, Oct. 21) really took me back to my high school years. It also made me think, “Geez dude, grow the fuck up.”

Gibson writes about growing up in a sheltered small town a few minutes east of Berkeley by BART. Hmmm, small town, with a BART station east of Berkeley. Could it be… Orinda? Lafayette? Two of the wealthiest suburbs in CA? I also spent my high school years in Lafayette in an apartment complex by the BART tracks where Average Joes could afford to live. I, however, didn’t get large allowances from my folks, nor did I spend the money I did have on trips to Berkeley. I did get annoyed by the stories from people like Jeff Gibson upon their return. Ooooohh. Marijuana. Strange clothing. Hippies.

Not to say that there’s anything wrong with getting stoned. Pot should be legal. But I don’t buy into this idea that I.V. students are defying authority and challenging the system by getting stoned and listening to reggae while the world falls apart. Let’s be honest: We just do it because it’s fun.

So why does Gibson buy into this bizarre persecution complex? Sure, your friends got busted. Shit happens. But the cops aren’t corrupt – they’re just doing their jobs. I’m currently in Brazil where the cops sell drugs, supply drug lords with machine guns, do hired killings and mug people in their cars. That’s corruption. So stop whining. If you’re smart about it, you can avoid getting caught when you get stoned. (Tip one: Don’t smoke on the balcony with your “Lorax” where the cops can see you.)

I also heard about another kid from Lafayette this weekend. His name is Scott Dyleski, he’s sixteen, he tested out of my old high school, and the police have him nailed on the murder of his fifty-something female neighbor. It appears Scott was trying to use credit-card information from his neighbor’s mail to buy equipment to grow pot when she found out, so he killed her. I wonder if he will also blame society for his problems – all the poor boys of Lafayette.

I wonder how many times Gibson went a few minutes further on the BART line to check out Oakland. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t be whining about how he’s being persecuted by the “system.” Maybe he’d see where the system really goes wrong and look at the real problems facing our society.