If any average citizen had attempted to do the same, he or she would have been charged with drug possession, smuggling, and obstruction of justice - and would have faced at least 30 days in jail along with a $1,000 fine. Houston didn't even have to show up for the hearing.
Roughly 600,000 people were arrested for marijuana-related offenses nationwide in 1995 alone. In 15 states, mandatory minimum laws actually require life sentences for certain nonviolent marijuana offenses.
"What happens time and time again in the drug war is that big shots are treated differently from other people," noted Hoover Institution fellow Joseph McNamara in an interview about the Houston case with Salon.com. "This goes on all the time with relatives of congressmen and senators where rules that are mandatory for others don't seem to apply."
Houston faces no consequences for breaking the law. She must simply complete "a probation-like program." Her attorney promises that she will exhibit good behavior. But that is something she seems congenitally incapable of doing.
The six-time Grammy winner started her career as a gospel singer, but shows little reverence these days for anything other than her own image and indulgence.
A recent profile in Jane magazine featured a fax from Houston's management team demanding food required at her photo shoot, starting with "Deer Park Water, at room temperature" and ending with "Gummy bears." She once threw a tantrum and held up a music video production for four hours over a "completely inadequate" dressing-room chair.
"The greatest love of all," proclaimed one of Houston's first hit songs, "is learning to love yourself." Who knew she'd take the melodic cult of self-esteem to such excessive heights?
