Cost of a pound of pot

Vietnam Veteran Douglas Lamar Gray had a roofing business in Moulton, a wife and a son. In 1989, he bought $900 worth of marijuana in a motel room..

Until then, the longest Gray had been locked up was a few months for a burglary in his teens, then two more burglaries in his early 20s….

A police informant with a criminal record had lured Gray to the motel. Gray bought the marijuana…

Gray was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

That no one was injured during his crimes doesn’t matter. Gray, 49, will die behind bars.

Before the drug bust, he had not been arrested in 14 years.

“Made real good money, owned my own house, my own land,” he said. “Watched my little boy grow up, then they set me up and sold me a pound of pot.”

His wife divorced him. His son, now 16, is in trouble with the law.

“He said he was going to get into trouble and come to prison so he could be with me,” Gray said.

The state has spent $150,000 to keep Gray locked up. So far.

How much more the state spends depends on how long Gray lives.