In February, Grand Rapids Press sports columnist David Mayo was suspended from his job after he was arrested and charged with growing marijuana at his home. Last week Mayo was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to a felony count of manufacturing marijuana, and on Sunday Mayo's column returned to the paper, and in it he described the process of coming to terms with the fact that he's an addict and a convicted felon.
Mayo writes:
Mayo's whole column is worth a read.I am a felon now. It is hardly the coolest claim I ever made.
Nevertheless, I can live with it, because I've come out on the other side, facing life on life's terms, and comprehending that if you don't expose your disease, your disease will expose you.
This constitutes fourth-step work in the 12-step Narcotics Anonymous program. There is a unique catharsis in writing this so publicly. This column was part of the newspaper's requirement for my return from a marijuana-growing conviction. But I consider it as much for me as anyone.
I have learned I am not physically addicted to anything but am predisposed to all manner of mental addictions, dating to childhood.
