Rapper T.I And Wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle Arrested on Drug Charges

On Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010, globally known rapper T.I and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, were arrested on suspicion of drug charges in West Hollywood, Calif.. At about 10:30 p.m., police witnessed the rapper making an illegal u-turn and were just making a routine traffic stop. When the officers approached the car, the smell of marijuana was overwhelming, and the routine traffic stop quickly turned into a drug investigation. The officers found marijuana and also pills resembling ecstasy in the rapper's vehicle. T.I and Cottle were arrested and posted their $10,000 bond early the next morning.

Lately in the news, more and more celebrities are being arrested for drug charges. With hearing about all of these famous people using drugs, it is easy to see how drugs in Hollywood are an absolute epidemic for young people. It is even more obvious to see in the rap and hip-hop community. Rapper Snoop Dogg pleaded no contest to a drug and weapons charge in 2007, and in 2008, rapper Lil Wayne was busted for a major drug possession charge in Arizona while on his tour bus. There are many cases of rappers and hip-hop artists being prosecuted on drug charges.

This arrest came at a very bad time for T.I. In 2008, he was charged with two felonies related to federal weapons charges. T.I served seven months in prison, as well as three months in a halfway house for these charges. He is currently on probation, and will now have to deal with a probation violation as well as a drug charge after Wednesday's arrest. He may very well land himself back in prison because of the two charges.

This also may very well affect T.I.'s career in a negative way. This fall, he has a new album being released. If he is incarcerated, he will not be able to do any album promotions, so his album sales could suffer. He also just got his foot in the film industry with the release of his movie "Takers," which did very well earlier this month. Casting directors and movie producers may now see him in a negative light because he risked so much just when his career was finally beginning to come back after his stint in jail.

Although what T.I and his wife will face is a big deal, the people who really suffer in all of this are the children T.I and "Tiny" have. They are setting a bad example for their kids when they could have been positive role models. Let's all hope that T.I will finally learn from his mistakes. If not for his sake, then for his family's.

Cited Sources:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/560129/rapper_lil_wayne_arrested.html?cat=17

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/rapper-ti-arrested-on-drug-charges-in-west-hollywood.html

http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/09/02/rapper-ti-drug/comment-page-3/#comments