His name is Cameron Douglas. He was arrested in New York City in July 2009 on a nonviolent drug offense—distribution of methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth—that subjects him to a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years. In certain ways, Cameron fits the statistical profile for many nonviolent drug offenders. But for his stint as a dealer, he has some, but not much, of a criminal history: a couple of petty misdemeanors. He has spent some time in juvie. Having been removed from private school, the high school he attended—a public high school in a working-class community in southern California—has poor graduation rates. Cameron is among those who failed to graduate with his class. And for most of his life he has been a drug addict, at the time of his arrest a severe heroin addict. These are where the similarities end. Cameron Douglas’s father is a film actor. You may recall him from popular movies such as Wall Street and Jewel of the Nile or the critically acclaimed Traffic, in which he plays a government drug czar.
