Whether legal or not, I don't find it acceptable. Similarly, on CF lists, people routinely post announcements that they have leftover medical supplies of some sort and are willing to give it away for free (sometimes on the condition that the recipient cover postage, sometimes not). This is generally viewed as socially acceptable on most CF lists because medical expenses for CF are extremely high and people coping with CF are typically financially devastated by that fact. On the only CF list I own, I announced that this was not an acceptable practice because I think the price of exposure to the germs of another person with CF outweighs the value of the supplies. So I think that's Not Cool either, even in cases where it happens to be legal (and legality of it varies by jurisdiction in this case and probably also depends on exactly what is being offered).
In this case, I have two points:
- If you're going to do something like this, coordinating it on FB is a stupid idea. (Mailing contagious materials without taking defined precautions is seriously frowned upon.)
- Mail is sometimes inspected. Misdelivered. Undeliverable. Damaged. In this case, it is most likely not marked as hazardous. What might one be inflicting upon the unsuspecting handler of such an error condition?
Yes, I totally agree that coordinating something like this on FB (or many other websites) is pretty darn dumb. (Isn't there some Einstein quote about stupidity being infinite or something?)
As for your second point, I was an environmental studies major for a time. I really don't think most people think that far ahead. I hope, if nothing else, this does draw enough national attention to educate people as to how foolish and dangerous it is to mail contagious items. And, oh, breaking federal law by messing with the mail is very serious business. Much more so than many people might realize. Even if they don't get enlightened as to how dumb this is, perhaps they will at least get a clue that this detail is no small matter and can seriously impact their lives. I'm very okay with fear of the law being a deterrent to such activities in cases where "common sense" seems absent.
IIRC
And, that would be violation of Federal law. Documented on FB?... No thanks.
My father caught chicken pox as an adult, while travelling. It nearly killed him.
P.S. Looked at the story (duh). Says the same thing. Anyway, I'll leave my personal anecdote FWIW.