vtsister

My alcoholic brother has been living with my mother since my father died four years ago.

A year or so ago one of my sisters discovered that he had been growing pot in an open tool shed on my mother's farm property. He had one plant at the time, which my mother went out and destroyed.

Yesterday when my sister took my mother's dog out, the dog went out near the tool shed, and when my sister got over there, she noticed that my brother was once again growing pot, only this time he had three large plants growing in buckets, pot hanging from the rafters to dry, and he had a little work table and gardening tools set up where he must trim the plants, etc.

We know he's sold pot before, and obviously must be selling it again.

My sister went in and told my mother what she'd found, and my mother went out to look for herself. She cried, then said she was going to wait until my brother was sober today, then she'd "march him out there and make him destroy it".

My brother is in his mid-fifties, and the best thing that could happen would be for my mother to tell him to pack his bags and leave, but we all know that she won't do that.

He does hold a job, but he gets drunk every night on the way home, and he drinks on weekends too. My mother hates it, and has mentioned to him several times that he might want to think about quitting, especially for the sake of his son (who doesn't live with him), but he always tells her he "isn't ready yet".

The rest of us know that my brother won't stop drinking, and my mother isn't going to kick him out, but the pot growing thing has us worried. We don't know if there's anything we can do, and we're worried that his activities could cause my mother to lose her property.

Is there anything the rest of us siblings can do? At 82, my mother shouldn't have to be living under the stress that my brother causes.