I came across a September 1976 piece in High Times headlined "Missouri — 12 Years for 11 Grams." Jerry Mitchell, a 19-year-old from West Plains, Missouri, had sold about a third of an ounce of marijuana to an undercover Highway Patrol agent for five dollars. Circuit Judge Winston Buford gave him twelve years. "I hope that the sentence fits the crime and will serve as a warning to others who are thinking of becoming a pusher," Buford told him. Mitchell sobbed in court and begged for parole — both of his parents were blind and depended on him for care. NORML director Keith Stroup called the sentence "an outrage." I wondered what happened to the kid in the photo. The trial judge revisited the case a few months later and reduced the sentence to seven years. Mitchell served about fourteen months at the Algoa Reformatory near Jefferson City, was paroled back to his parents in West Plains at age 23, and reportedly considered college to study political science.…