Hey, Idiot Drug Warriors: People Selling $20-40 Meth Lollypops Are Not Targeting Children
Drew Schwartz writes at VICE of a Texas drug bust that found 600 pounds of meth lollypops.
The subhead:
Authorities believe the addictive drug--disguised as candy butterflies, flowers, and Star Wars characters--might have been targeted toward children.
More from the piece:
According to HCSO Lt. Ruben Diaz, whoever was making the pops was likely trying to target children. Of the roughly 600 pounds of meth pops confiscated by police, many of them were molded into a variety of kid-friendly colors and shapes, including butterflies, flowers, Yoda's head, and the Batman logo. They ranged in price from $20 to $40 a pop, brining the quarter-ton of "candy" to a $1 million street value."Even if they were not sold directly to a child, what if these lollipops were dropped anywhere in the neighborhood?" Diaz told the Dallas Morning News. "A child picking them up is going to see them and think it's regular candy."
What a crapload.
First, children do not have $20 bills to throw around.
Next, when's the last time you were walking along and saw a baggie of drugs dropped on the street?
Let's consider what Diaz might have invested in getting people to believe this ridiculous bullshit ("Eek! What about the children?!")
via @TimCushing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jFqhjaGh30
lujlp at June 14, 2017 10:19 AM
Um, do you KNOW what allowances are these days, in many families? $10 a week just doesn't cut it anymore.
Besides, if kids are already acting as lookouts for drug gangs...yes, they would have more money than other kids to throw around.
Not to mention that dealers giving away freebies is one way to create young addicts/customers, who then steal to support their habit.
All of this is old news.
lenona at June 14, 2017 11:00 AM
The war on drugs continues apace. Winning!
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at June 14, 2017 11:48 AM
I'll say up front that I think the war on drugs is bogus and I'd legalize most (pot for sure).
That said:
(1) meth is a hell of a drug.
(2) As lenona notes, $20 is not what it used to be. My nieces and nephews get $20-plus tucked into a birthday card from assorted relatives and family friends all the time. I am pretty sure $10/week (and more) is not an unusual allowance for a kid these days -- I'm basing that on middle-class, non-NYC friends with kids, not on wealthy Manhattanite friends (whose kids certainly have more than average. If a kid does things like babysit or shovel snow for extra money, he very likely walks around with more than $20. Unless a kid is from a poorer family, by the time he is in his teens, $20 is something he'd be likely to have on hand by the time he's old enough to wander around sans parents.
(3) whether these pushers are targeting kids, I can't say, but certainly some pushers are targeting kids.
Gail at June 14, 2017 1:58 PM
Meth-laced lollipops?
Chances are that a good chunk of those candies were meant for rave parties/nightclubs.
Sixclaws at June 14, 2017 2:30 PM
To build on what Gail said, they might have been targeting teens with drugs that wouldn't look suspicious to parents. If I saw my DD walking around with a lollipop I wouldn't get suspicious at all. You expect even older kids to pick up random pieces of junk like this. And frankly, as lame as it may sound to you all, it turns out that this was not far from my area. Scary close actually and so I don't find it funny. I have warned my daughter not to take any unlabeled/unknown candy from anyone.
Sheep Mom at June 14, 2017 4:36 PM
Meanwhile in Georgia, a local Sheriff and his minions - er, deputies - put an entire high school on lockdown then groped 900 students, sans warrants.
Because, um, drugs.
They found none.
Cue the lawyers.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at June 14, 2017 6:01 PM
Gail: "(3) whether these pushers are targeting kids, I can't say, but certainly some pushers are targeting kids."
They're targeting $20-$40, whoever happens to have it and wants to spend it on meth in the form of candy.
Ken R at June 14, 2017 9:17 PM
Oh, yes, forgot to mention - I've lost track of the stories of little kids bringing their parents' cocaine or heroin to school, thinking it was candy - even when it didn't look much like candy, to the adult eye.
Of course, the parents are primarily to blame for incidents like that. My point is that when dealers go to the trouble to make illegal drugs LOOK like candy, something's more wrong than usual.
lenona at June 16, 2017 9:02 AM
Correction - that's "I've lost track of the NUMBER of stories."
lenona at June 20, 2017 3:55 PM
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