OT: Yet another disturbing chapter in “The War on Drugs”

[admin]

These stories are becoming all too common:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/01/man-abandoned-dea-cell-steps-forward/

An engineering student stepped forward with his lawyer Tuesday to say he was left alone in a federal holding cell for five days with no food or water, apparently forgotten by the federal drug agents who detained him.

[desmond]

Pretty scary, can you imagine his parents trying to get in contact with the kid and nobody knows where he is? Will this ever end with a workable solution to the “war on the average US citizen”

[enron_by_the_sea]

[quote=pri_dk]These stories are becoming all too common:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/01/man-abandoned-dea-cell-steps-forward/

An engineering student stepped forward with his lawyer Tuesday to say he was left alone in a federal holding cell for five days with no food or water, apparently forgotten by the federal drug agents who detained him.[/quote]

So I feel for this person and I wish that whoever did this gets what they deserve.

But really what connection does it have to the “war on drugs”? In theory you can be detained for any other offense and this still could happen to you!

[briansd1]

[quote=desmond]Pretty scary, can you imagine his parents trying to get in contact with the kid and nobody knows where he is? Will this ever end with a workable solution to the “war on the average US citizen”[/quote]

Actually the average citizens asked for it by supporting the war on drugs, zero tolerance and 3-strikes.

It’s not until they or their family members are caught in the system that they have second thoughts.

[Anonymous]

[quote=enron_by_the_sea]But really what connection does it have to the “war on drugs”?[/quote]

It was the DEA that did it.

It’s a common scenario in the “war” on drugs:

Military-style law enforcement teams perform a “raid” where they round up a bunch of people, detain them and then sort out whether they’ve actually done anything illegal after the fact.

Often these expensive and dangerous raids are based on weak evidence and are justified only by the suspected presence of relatively minor drugs.

[mike92104]

I think nowadays the publics opinion of those programs are waning significantly. Unfortunately, like most things in government, once the power is given to them, they have a hard time giving it up.

[desmond]

[quote=briansd1][quote=desmond]Pretty scary, can you imagine his parents trying to get in contact with the kid and nobody knows where he is? Will this ever end with a workable solution to the “war on the average US citizen”[/quote]

Actually the average citizens asked for it by supporting the war on drugs, zero tolerance and 3-strikes.

It’s not until they or their family members are caught in the system that they have second thoughts.[/quote]

You are right on that. A good freind of mine was always defending the marajuana laws, until his kid got “busted” for smoking some pot. He admittingly has changed his mind. Once Pat Robertson agrees that marajuana should be legal you know the “war on marajuana” is a joke.

[desmond]

[quote=enron_by_the_sea][quote=pri_dk]These stories are becoming all too common:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/01/man-abandoned-dea-cell-steps-forward/

An engineering student stepped forward with his lawyer Tuesday to say he was left alone in a federal holding cell for five days with no food or water, apparently forgotten by the federal drug agents who detained him.[/quote]

So I feel for this person and I wish that whoever did this gets what they deserve.

But really what connection does it have to the “war on drugs”? In theory you can be detained for any other offense and this still could happen to you![/quote]

After reading that by enron you can tell the “war on drugs” is not working.

[bearishgurl]

omg, this very disturbing, appalling and disgusting “false-imprisonment” incident appears to be clearly the fault of multiple agencies and happened due to complete and utter incompetence at several gubment levels, IMHO.

“Immunity” be damned!!

…Chong’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, said he plans to file a claim against the federal government as soon as today. He said he expected it would be denied and he would proceed with a federal lawsuit later this year.

I am familiar with the superior capabilities and lo-o-o-ong track record of Victim Chong’s highly-respected attorney, Gene Iredale, and can only say that the “writhing-in-mucky-muck-bureaucracy” attorneys for these gubment idiot-“agencies” would do well to have the good sense to meet with Chong and his attorney in a dark closet very early on to pay him an exorbitant sum of money to quietly go away.

Otherwise, this incident WILL go to trial and it is NOT going to be pretty.

Ugh, I’ve seen a LOT of gubment screwups …. but this is just bad …. really b-a-a-a-a-d :=0

[bearishgurl]

This just in this afternoon:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/02/dea-apologizes-student-left-cell/

Apparently, today the DEA “apologized” for the incident (without mentioning Chong by name) and stated they would “review their policies and procedures,” lol …

….Legislators in Washington began to tune into the incident Wednesday.

The Watchdog inquired with Rep. Darrell Issa’s office to ask whether he will use his position as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to review the case.

The Vista Congressman’s spokesman, Frederick Hill, responded, “Chairman Issa and the Oversight Committee will be asking the DEA for an explanation of this outrageous incident.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting an investigation into what happened.

“After the investigation is completed, I ask that you please provide me with the results and the actions the department will take to make sure those responsible are held accountable and that no one in DEA custody will ever again be forced to endure such treatment,” Boxer wrote.

Chong was not immediately available for comment Wednesday…

This is one of those rare days that I wish I had TV. I again had to suspend my subscription due to Cox nearly tripling the cost of my pkg.

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