Here's great post--The Grass Wasn't Greener-- written by a computer programmer, writer, and father of six, who was the tenant of a doomed, pot-dealing landlord. We recommend reading the whole thing.

The only thing worse than being the target of tragedy, is watching helplessly as Fate conducts a drive-by shooting. A gentle, hard-working, attentive, selfless young man died, haunted by the specter of a stiff federal sentence for a victimless crime. It’s one thing to read about such tales in a paper or on a web site – where they are, though real, tinged with the abstract. When they invade your life like this, they leave a mark that never rubs off.

Some would argue that Patric’s life was in his own hands, and that his death was his own decision. Considering that federal sentencing guidelines could have put him in jail for most of his natural life, this logic is at best myopic. Today, a man named Ron Ridenour awaits federal sentencing in Montana on charges of marijuana trafficking; he faces five to 40 years behind bars. Ridenour lucked out and drew a lenient judge, critical of mandatory sentencing, who will likely give him the minimum. We’ll never know where on the roulette wheel Patric would have landed. Stacked up against the possibility of spending 40 years in prison, death dons an attraction it wouldn’t otherwise hold for a rational man.