At the Cook County Jail, that I just left, it was upwards of 80% of the population that are smoking it on a daily basis in some areas. The effects can be devastating. I saw people "die" and need to be brought back by Narcan. I saw many, many people acting like they were on PCP, going crazy. This is bad for your cell block as if the guard sees it he's going to call in a really heavy shakedown for everyone. I saw many people simply OD and go comatose but eventually recover after having water poured over them repeatedly.
One letter-sized page makes about $8000 for the person that gets it in. They tear it up into what we call "strips" which are about the area of a dime. You get the thin wrapping paper that covers a toilet roll and use that as rolling paper and then tear the strip up into little pieces and light the whole thing.
Never touched the stuff myself.
Oh, and it's basically undetectable, which is the reason it gets into the prisons so easy. The stuff I've seen while I was inside had no colouration on the paper, had no smell etc. The dogs can't sniff it - I was told by the handler that it's because they are not trained in it.
That being the case, it's clearly better to allow the books than not.
> "(As an aside, learn to spell "heroin".)"
Just my 2 cents, but I think that phrasing may come across as harsh. Keeping things civil is a big part of keeping HN's discussions interesting.
And yes, written on a mobile device so not the best proofreading, nor am I a perfect writer (re And).
Shit, I even saw one lawyer bringing in weed for his client. That was fucked up. I wouldn't risk my license for that.
The stories of paper goods (including mail) being soaked is prevalent.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/fl-ne-fugitive-roy-k...
Someone was mailing drugs into federal prisons, disguising papers soaked in MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), fentanyl, synthetic marijuana and Suboxone, an opioid dependence treatment, as confidential legal communication in order to sneak them past guards.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/15/1015447281/overdose-deaths-st...
Friends and family can tuck strips of paper soaked with drugs into mail or books, and if they get past the mail room, people in prison can eat them, or roll them up and smoke them.
https://bangordailynews.com/2020/06/25/news/state/3-maine-wo...
Three Maine women have been accused of being associates to a New York City street gang called the Bullies that allegedly used vehicles with hidden compartments and comic book pages soaked in narcotics as part of their multi-state distribution of cocaine, heroin, guns and money between Maine and New York for 3 ½ years.
Found on first page of:
I just got out of jail. This stuff is EVERYWHERE.
I didn't believe it when it was LSD getting to kids : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_star_tattoo_legend and I don't believe it now.
There is an enormous financial incentive to smuggle drugs into prisons by any means, and soaking drugs in paper has been done all over the place. Here are 3 cases:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/eleven-people-indicted-...
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/multi-state-drug-smuggl...
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/two-sci-inmates-two-all...
A nearby prison had inmates routinely high, a huge black eye on the warden and staff. For the life of them they couldn't figure out how anyone was smuggling narcotics until one day they caught an inmate smoking a page of the Holy Bible.
So the inmates were getting printed religious materials soaked in heroin (thank you generous spirit) and then ripping them out to enjoy. This prison went the somewhat charitable route to scan all letters, books and documents, but it does go to show that stories / headlines that appear absurd on the surface are usually just as absurd underneath.