Breaking Local News: 19 year old girl charged with Felony; Bedford Co. DA Gloats

Note: Just as in my previous piece, Bedford (PA) County Drug Task Force Creates Jobs , I do not condone or support any illegal activities. Drugs are illegal, and selling them is idiotic. Don't do it.

Another drug bust in Bedford County, this time without a catchy operation designation. How about Operation: Lolita? Operation: Goodbye Future? Operation: Welcome to Adulthood?

Via my local sports section disguised as a newspaper, The Altoona Mirror: (They do not have this story posted online yet. When they do, I will provide a link as long as they still only publish the mugshots in the print version.)

The case is pretty basic. Idiots drive to Baltimore. Idiots buy decent amount of heroin. Cops get tip and stop idiots on their way back from Baltimore. I'm not even going to use the "innocent until proven guilty" cliche this time.

The idiots involved and charged in this case are a 29 year old man, a 31 year old man, and....a 19 year old girl.

They are idiots, and they got caught. And now their lives are forever changed thanks to the unattainable quest to eliminate drugs from our society. They are victims as well.

Bedford County District Attorney Bill Higgins was overjoyed at the arrests.

Our relentless attack on drug dealers in Bedford County is not going to slow down. We have far more information about the dealers than they think, and we will continue to use that information to our advantage. [Male Suspects Name withheld by blogger] thought he had a nice little enterprise going. It's over now.

Yes, the enterprise is over, although another will fill the role quickly. And a large part of the suspects future is also over. What isn't over is their addictions or this pointless war against our citizens.

19 with a felony, and the DA can do nothing but gloat.

Linking to LEAP and shutting up....

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Bedford (PA) County Drug Task Force Creates Jobs.

(Story is from the Altoona Mirror.
The only reason I am linking it is the online version does not include the mug shots or names of the accused. Believe me, the print version took great joy in including both.)

After an eight month investigation, the Bedford County Drug task force ruined the lives of 21 addicts in a show of force and idiocy on Tuesday. In a second "fuck you" to the accused, the Altoona Mirror published color photos of each of the 21, who I must add, are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.

"Operation: Scarecrow," as it is called, follows "Operation: Cupid's Arrow," which in February took 15 of the most violent non-violent addicts off the streets. Bedford County DA Bill Higgins, of course, thinks this is serious business. At a press conference, he said "Just like the 15 arrested in 'Operation: Cupid's Arrow,' these offenders will be zealously prosecuted."

"Operation: Scarecrow"? "Operation: Cupid's Arrow"? Can we have "Operation: Harm Reduction," next please?

Sheriff Charwin Reichelderfer then proves that he almost gets it, but that his mind just can't finish the leap.

I know from experience that many of these people will be characterized as just users by their friends and family. While they may be selling stuff to support their own habit, there is no question they are bringing this poison in our community and selling it to our kids. And for that they're going to be held accountable.

Bolds are mine.

Let me scan through the list quick and see how many have charges related to selling drugs to minors. Perhaps one. I say perhaps, because a few of these hardened criminals apparently were also parents, and got charges added if they had a child in the car with them.

Which I admit is not only stupid, but child endangerment. Drugs are illegal, leave your damn kids at home, or with a sitter.

But selling it to "our kids"?

Do you have proof of this assumption, Sheriff Charwin, or are you just jumping right to the most emotional target possible to corrupt the jury pool and further tar these child murderers drug addicts? Or are you trying to convince your self? Asshole, or asshole suffering from cognitive dissonance, I can't decide.

There is no reason to try to corrupt the jury pool, since I'd bet my car all 21 will take a plea. That's how it works. The ADA offers you a shitty plea, and then threatens that if you take it to trial, they will push for whatever crazy number of years they think sound believable. All 21 of these criminals victims are going to be facing felonies, and chances are all 21 will take the plea. The only ones who actually should take the plea are those offered ARD or IPP or some other path to clearing their record, but the threat of years in prison can affect your decision making.

Look, I know. Drugs are illegal. Selling drugs is illegal. They all broke the law. I get it, I really do. And unless it is far down the memory hole, I do not know anyone affected by this operation.

But I still know them. I see my past self in every picture. I know the game, I know the story. Some of them are runners for the actual dealer, delivering drugs and protecting the dealer. Some of them were hooking up a friend they probably used with a hundred times before. A few of them were probably straight set up by the Confidential Informant and actually are innocent. Some of them were only getting for someone else so they could make enough to get a fix. And, yes, some were driving to Baltimore and bringing back product to sell and support their own addiction.

8 months. Untold amount of tax payer money. 21 low level dealers, at the worst, off the streets facing a felony that will follow them forever. The one girl is only 18. One guy is 19. Welcome to adulthood.

And by the end of the week, 21 more will step in to fill whatever cog in the machine they happened to occupy. The heroin and cocaine will keep flooding the area. More people will get addicted. Then in 8 months or so, "Operation: June Bug," or the like will scoop up another group.

The cycle, it keeps on cycling.

21 jobs available today in Bedford County. It's high risk, but the profession is booming no matter the economy. No experience needed, just a self-destructive personality.

We've lost the war on drugs. The war was never winnable in the first place.

Why are we still fighting it? Why are there still casualties?

Isn't it time for harm reduction?

Going to link to LEAP, and shut up.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Obama is a Liberal Liar

I find the Obama-as-a-liberal meme to be quite amusing. Faux News and the Conservative Media Machine have conned the majority of their base and a great deal of the political center into acceptance of the meme. True, at times they seem confused over whether Obama is a far left Marxist communist or a far right fascist National Socialist, but discarding the coocoo-for-cocoa-puffs Hitler comparisons they have been largely successful painting him, along with most of the Democratic Party, as dreaded Liberals.

Rationality, to where have you disappeared?

We can argue for days over where on the political spectrum Obama and other Democrats land (I've heard center-left and dead center, while I would argue for center-right) but can we please stop this "Liberal" nonsense? No matter the cause, be it their true political beliefs, or just political opportunity created as the Republicans go off the rails of their personal crazy train, there is no viable national party representing the views of those of us firmly on the left. I don't expect for the Tea Party to see this as a negative, but I hope those on the right who still look at knowledge, logic, rationality and education as virtues realize that this is poison for our Nation.

The talking points are too easy. Effective policy needs criticism to blossom, it forces those on both sides to dissect their own ideas, tempering them to survive the attack of the enemy, leading to stronger more effective policies. Yes, I am a Liberal and I feel Liberal policies are best for this Nation, but that doesn't mean I want my ideas enacted without debate, rubber stamped blindly with any opposition shut down by the call of "fascists!"

*sigh* After that preamble, let me make one thing clear. I do not advocate "making Obama pay" in 2012. There is no viable 3rd option, and with the batshit insanity of the current Republican party, anyone they nominate for the Presidency is a danger to our Constitution and economy. So hold you nose and vote for Obama, but we need to start pulling the Democrats back to the left. That being said.....

Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars, we once again find our President breaking campaign promises and doing a two-step on our rights.

Apparently not satisfied with completely breaking the promise not to prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers who comply with state law, now the Obama administration has set its sights on the First Amendment as well by prosecuting media outlets that accept advertising from medical marijuana businesses.

From the original article, Feds to target newspapers, radio for marijuana ads on California Watch:

Federal prosecutors are preparing to target newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets that advertise medical marijuana dispensaries in California, another escalation in the Obama administration’s newly invigorated war against the state’s pot industry.

This month, U.S. attorneys representing four districts in California announced that the government would single out landlords and property owners who rent buildings or land where dispensaries sell or cultivators grow marijuana. Now, newspapers and other media outlets could be next.

As Ed Brayton writes to finish his piece, "I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: When it comes to civil liberties, Obama hasn’t just been bad, he’s been an absolute disaster."

I could not agree more.

Apologies for Off Day; Have I Mentioned Withdrawal Sucks?

Let us see. Two, carry the one, divide by the sum of the....

Yep, Just hit 67 hours without sleep.

Methadone maintenance has served me well. I would have much rather taken a longer taper instead of the 10 day "um, you lost medical assistance, sorry" taper program I received, but the time had come to toss the crutch away. It actually makes a decent point in the current debate over health care in the United States. As a single male with only "drug dependance" as a medical issue, I would lose my government cheese medical benefits on the day I became employed. If I could muster up a psych diagnoses, I would be eligible for subsidized health insurance under the Medical Assistance for Disabled Workers program in my state, but alas, I am not a welfare fraud and not about to lie to a doctor about how depressed I am.

Methadone treatment, while I was employed, cost me 500$ a month. Roughly half of my take home, depending on tips of course. That is a lot less than an opiate addiction costs, I know. Believe me, I know, but still. I was referred to the clinic by one Doctor, who was backed up by both my PCP and a third opinion I decided to get. The clinic itself called me "a classic case of exactly who methadone is for. You are the client type we want to have here." I have forms upon forms stating that methadone is a "Life and Health Sustaining Medication" for me, yet once the failing economy touched me and I became unemployed, I went from 80mg a day to 0 in ten days.

Yes, I know. There are ways I could have played the system, but the reason I finally went on methadone was to stop living that life. It did its job, and no matter the discomfort I feel now, I was ready to get off the drug.

I did learn one very important lesson however; Don't get sick. As a single male, I am a persona non grata to government assistance. No matter the income, as soon as I am employed I am ineligible for every program. Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to live on the dole. Government cheese doesn't fuel my appetite. But how are the poor, the underclass, hell, the middle class without health insurance supposed to better their lives, to be productive, when one sustained illness can force bankruptcy? If I want to get an annual physical, which I should start doing as I am not getting any younger, then that money has to come out of either my food budget or my college fund. At least that I can plan for, what happens if I need an antibiotic? There goes at least one month of saving. FSM forbid I have an accident, or a long term illness, or need surgery. I have struggled for years to work on the debt I have without declaring bankruptcy. I have made many mistakes in my life, but I have taken responsibility for them and am trying to turn things around. I will have chronic health problems for the rest of my life, and it scares me that no matter what choices I make from now on, it's up to the roll of the dice whether I succeed or end up on disability. Cancer, heart disease, COPD, diabetes, high blood pressure, and strokes all run in my family, and I haven't even mentioned any of the health problems I do have. What kind of a modern society makes health care a privilege, not a right?

For any one ready to pounce, ready to point out the obvious fact that I made my choices and now I am reaping what I have sown, fine. What about the countless uninsured children who are only guilty of being born poor? What of those struggling to escape poverty who are law abiding citizens? When I was 6 my appendix almost burst. If my parents wouldn't have had insurance, they could have been wiped out. When I was 23 I broke both of me feet in an accident. One of the benefits I had at the time was health insurance. I paid nothing for my treatment, and although I was only supposed to get 40 to 60% usage back, due to the quality of care I received I have over 95% of the usage I had before the accident. Although I have pain management issues, I can still go backpacking and hiking thanks to health insurance. Accidents happen to everyone, the drug addict and the teetotaler, the rich and the poor, the young and the old.

Health care is a right. It isn't socialism. You are being played by those who control the talking points.

Court ordered drug treatment part 1. The life of a junkie

Imagine for a second you are someone else. No longer safe behind your computer, you now are in the body of a heroin addict. You wake up every morning sick. It starts with just the sniffles and the shivers, but you know it will progress rapidly into the worst flu you can imagine, until your legs kick involuntarily, preventing sleep, until the bile burns your throat from the endless vomiting, until your body aches with every move, and every minute is sheer torture, until your mind screams for either death or the one thing that can instantly end your suffering. Heroin, beautiful heroin.

And so when you awake, your priorities are different than the common man. While others shower, shit, and shave, brush their teeth and break their fast before continuing their productive lives, you have one and only one thing on your mind. Getting the next fix. If you have the money and live in a major city, your quest can be as easy as walking to the corner. But if you live in a minor city, or a rural area, suddenly things aren't that easy. Besides being charged 2 to 8 times more (when I was in active addiction, a bag of heroin sold for $5 to 10$ in Pittsburgh and Philly. The charge in Altoona? $30 to $40) than you would in a big city, dealers in the small cities and rural areas can't set up shop on the corner. So you start making phone calls, hoping at least one of your dealers woke up before you and has your poison in stock. To keep this mental image moving, we'll assume someone actually answered their phone. (Most drug dealers have no respect for their customers. When you move away from the city, less competition leads to worse and worse treatment. Drug dealers don't have normal hours of business. Their hours are "When I feel like it," to "When I don't feel like it.") So now it's off to meet your dealer and get your drugs. If you are lucky, you know someone who lets you come to their house. If not, expect to stand on a random street waiting for someone. When that someone actually arrives, 9 times out of 10 it isn't your dealer, but a runner (drug addict who earns his dope by delivering the drugs, thereby lowering the risk to the dealer while putting his own freedom on the line) who probably pinched (took a little bit out for himself) your bag.

So now you got your dope. You are probably late for work, or cutting it close, you haven't showered, but at least you can function....if you had the money. In the big city, a one bag a day addiction is comparable to smoking a pack or more a day. But it never stays at one bag, because of tolerance. At my worst, I had a 14 bag a day addiction, and from talking with a lot of addicts in my time, my addiction was minor. 14 bags a day is a $70 to $140 dollar a day habit. If you are paying rural/small city prices, we are talking up to $560 a day. Where does the money come from?

It comes from stealing. It comes from running into Wal-mart, filling a shopping cart with dvd's and electronics, and running out the door with it. It comes from crooked pawn dealers, from bad checks, from selling every item you own. It comes from ripping off fellow addicts, or if you want to put your life on the line, ripping off your dealer. If you don't live in the city, the cost is just too much. So you begin driving to the city to get your drugs. For one 4 month stretch, I drove the 4 hours to philly 5 times a week. You start to pick up drugs for your friends while you are their, and then you may start to sell the drug yourself. The legality doesn't matter. What matters is heroin, and to get that you need the cash, so getting the cash becomes an "at all costs" propisition. For some, even their body is on sale.

But heroin costs much more than just money. Your friends disappear because you either stole from them, ripped them off, or just stopped calling. Your new buddies are all heroin addicts. Your girlfriend is now either addicted or gone. Kids? Ha, you just spent their diaper money for a bag of dope. Your teeth are rotting, veins collapsing, chances are you have Hep C now, and if you are really unlucky, HIV. Eventually, you are going to fuck up at work or school. Can you have a heroin addiction and still get good grades or be a good employee? Sure.....for a while. I carried a 4.0 for two semesters while using, only to have to withdraw after I started driving to Philly. I was head bartender/head trainer of a Don Pablo's until I walked out one day because my dealer couldn't deliver. Eventually, the house of cards you built will come crashing down.

And then it happens. The police kick in your door at 6 am, guns drawn, and they drag you out of bed, to a holding tank with 20 other addicts. It's a drug sweep, and they don't care if you don't steal, if you don't sell. All they care about is the fact that you use, and they have a confidental informant that they paid with money to get high, who will swear you sold them dope. In your boxers and t-shirt, you go in front of a magistrate who sets your bail, say 10% of $50,000. If you are lucky, you have someone who will bail you out. If not, get ready to go to county jail. If you can hire a lawyer, he may be able to get your bail reduced before your court date. Or you can sit in jail, innocent or guilty, until you take a plea bargin or take your case to trial, 6 to 10 months in the future. They will ask you to be a confidental informant, offering to keep you high as long as you get busts for them. They will lie to you about the evidence, overcharge you, and threaten you with years if not decades in jail. No matter how suspect the evidence, they will not drop all the charges. The plea bargins will get sweeter and sweeter as time goes by, because they don't want the case to go to trial. C.I.'s have a habit of not showing up at trial. Of course, you don't want to go to trial either, even if you are innocent. A jury trial in front of 12 non-heroin users in a town where the newspaper has trumped the drug problem up to be the end of the world as we know it? "We find the defendant Guilty!" "But sir, we haven't even started the trial!" A trial by judge can be just as bad, as they were all elected to be tough on crime, especially drug crime.

So you take a plea. If you are a non-violent drug offender on your first offense, and they don't have evidence that you are a major dealer, you are probably looking at probation, some minor jail time and drug treatment. Yeah, you probably have a felony on your record now, closing many doors in your future, but it's not the end of the world. Except you are a heroin addict. And one of your stipulations of probation is to not use drugs. You better hope the drug treatment works.