By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Correction said in an email to VICE News that the DOC does not comment on pending/ongoing litigation. The spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up question asking the department to elaborate on its existing policies surrounding presumptive drug tests. The fact that this has been going on during the pandemic, when there are no contact visits allowedits really foreclosing one of the major means of communications with peoples clients, and also a way to get their court documents.. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, If you need further help setting your homepage, check your browsers Help menu, Sponsored content from top corrections brands, soaking paper in liquid Suboxone and mailing it to inmates. One officer they believe was exposed had a fierce burning sensation in his head, which felt like his head was covered with nits, and [he] spent the night tearing at the top of his head. One former inmate said hes seen men go berserk, turning on their best friends. Liquid K2 is the latest contraband problem for Nebraska prisons, jails Paul Hammel Jun 27, 2021 Updated Aug 1, 2022 0 paul.hammel@owh.com, 402-618-0009, twitter.com/paulhammelowh 0 Comments. It is labor-intensive. Synthetic weed By switching their illicit smuggling ventures to K2 or Spice theyre lessening the consequences that theyll face when caught., The Federal Correction Institution (FCI) in Forrest City Arkansas was given as an example. A small piece of rosemary turned NIK Test A a light yellow-brown color, which could pass as a presumptive positive result if one really wanted it to. Sirchie did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "But I promise you, it happens to people on the street too. In 2017, Steffey was serving a nine-year sentence at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Lompoc, a low-security federal prison in California, for his role in an online identity theft ring. "I had been in the HVAC apprenticeship program for four years, and I was risking losing all that over this faulty NIK test kit," Abarca says. The court held a lengthy evidentiary hearing, where it became clear that the local district attorney's office frequently used NIK test kits as evidence to obtain grand jury indictments, despite a number of innocent people having been indicted and clear warnings from Safariland that the tests should be verified. Roughly two months after Steffey's release, the New York Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) suddenly suspended use of drug field tests produced by another company, Sirchie. As guards tried to subdue him, he resisted yelling that it was their fault. He's saying that the tests don't provide reliable positive or negative evidence in the first place and that untrained BOP staffers are misusing and misinterpreting the tests. Buy potent K2 spiced sheets and sprays at affordable.. . Its crazy here.. It took eight or nine officers to get him under control.". Crime:the 2005 abduction and bludgeoning death of 12-year-old Amber Harris of Omaha. These policies have been challenged in court, sometimes successfully. Shop. Vasquez-Maldonado's lawsuit was dismissed. Add to cart. Prisoners are tested for illicit drugs such as heroin and marijuana, but the standard urines tests dont screen for the metabolites from synthetic marijuana. He was like a zombie. The BOP did not respond to a request for comment for this story. And the drug itself is more problematic, often causing erratic and dangerous behavior. identifies important training information, interacts with each other and Fincher sued the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Sirchie, but a federal judge dismissed the suit in May 2020. ", This is why Sirchie's webpage for the NARK II test specifically warns, "NOTE: ALL TEST RESULTS MUST BE CONFIRMED BY AN APPROVED ANALYTICAL LABORATORY! The results of this test are merely presumptive. State poison control centers in Texas and other states soon reported a spike in overdoses, serious illnesses and deaths from K2 and related substances. Some state courts have been more skeptical. The inmates used. Best Spice Paper Worldwide. Theyve been using almost exclusivelyor, I think, actually exclusivelyon legal mail, Ellen Leonida, a partner at the firm BraunHagey & Borden and one of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, said of the presumptive drug tests. We used NIK Test A, and it was positive, so don't come bother us. In 2011, a United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture concluded that solitary confinement beyond 15 days constituted cruel and inhumane punishment. The other one was fighting us and everyone else. Sale! He told me he never rapped in his life, but that was all he could do to not lose his mind. Meanwhile, low evidence standards make it just about impossible for federal inmates to challenge the results of these tests in court. For years, the public has been barred from mailing books to inmates from their homes to prevent contraband shipments. "His eyes was as big as my fist," said one veteran correctional officer, who quickly summoned backup to the cellblock disturbance. To avoid that scenario, some incarcerated people are no longer accepting mail, which cuts off an important way to get in touch with their attorneys during the pandemic, the lawsuit alleges. It has become the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for correctional professionals nationwide. "They had this paperwork and knowledge that I wasn't allowed to possess for two years, and they made me suffer the consequences.". An ex-offenders organization called User Voice surveyed nine jails on their use of Spice. "Three guys went off about the same time and overdosed after smoking K2," he said. He didnt even know what K2 was at the time, according to Leonida. If the clear liquid turns orange, then brown, the substancemightbe methamphetamines or amphetamines. And the judge ruled that because the deputies reasonably believed the tests they used were reliable, they had both sovereign and qualified immunity from Fincher's lawsuit. He would not have done anything to jeopardize that, and a serious disciplinary offense like the one he was wrongly accused of could have resulted in the parole decision being revoked, the lawsuit alleged. More and more, other prison officials confirm, that scene has become routine in Lone Star lockups as front-line corrections officers battle what they say seems like a rising tide of K2 use. Right off the bat, when you have a piece of paper and you pull out your field test kit, you've made the wrong decision," she says. A member of the security team at the prison said these guys who use K2 are often zombie-like: Theyre just groaning, moaning and not able to understand anything thats being said to them. SCI Huntingdon first noticed K2 about eighteen months ago. A series 100 offense could result in 60 days in Disciplinary Segregation (the hole), or the loss of good time, commissary, or visiting and phone privileges for up to one year. The move followed the discovery of a dozen false positives linked to field tests. However, there is technology available to test for synthetic marijuana. Another BBC News article reported officers at HMP Holme House complained of feeling dizzy after entering cells where inmates had smoked Spice. Other law enforcement agencies have changed their policies over the last decade. Corrections1 is revolutionizing the way in which the corrections community finds relevant news, NARK II products havepreviously been accused of flagging herbal male enhancement productsandcotton candyas meth and breath mints as crack cocaine. This may be called Tools or use an icon like the cog. K2 begins as a liquid that can be sprayed on any kind of paper product, like letters. Lexipol. In 2019,Reasonobtained body camera footage showing a former Florida sheriff's deputy arresting an innocent man after the deputy allegedly found methamphetamines in the man's car. | At the Douglas County Jail and at the maximum-security Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, letters from attorneys are being checked. If that frustration over presumptive drug tests sounds familiar, its because similar complaints have been made against police departments in recent years. A prisoner said after the 9:30 pm count, the bathrooms and shower stalls fill up with prisoners smoking some version of K2 or Spice. Texas lawmakers outlawed it in 2015. "We tested it three different times out of two different kits to make sure that we weren't having any issue, and each time we got a positive for controlled substance," the Fort Chaffee police chief told a local news outlet. The fluid is typically grease or oil with other proprietary substances added to thicken it. Frakes said Nebraska will be looking at a similar system when it rebids its contract for tablets, which are now used for inmate telephone calls. The kits are screening tests that help the user determine what a substancemightbe. Tom Wolf halted all mail delivery and. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). The searches turned up what prosecutors described as an "unusually large amount of drugs" including K2, cocaine, meth, and items clearly too bulky to mail in like marijuana, bags of pills, jars of alcohol and 74 cell phones. In December of that year, a BOP mailroom staffer opened a package "of what appeared to be unfilled legal work" addressed to another inmate. | Copyright 2023 A 2018 drug seizure in North Carolina originally touted as "$2 million worth of 'the deadly opioid fentanyl'" turned out to be white sugar. Smugglers got even more creative after corrections officials took steps to screen mail and limit where books can be obtained. And the list of known substances that can trigger a positive result in these tests is ever-expanding. Staffing at the two prisons will shift immediately to two 12-hour shifts a day from three eight-hour shifts a day to allow required security p, Three inmates set fire to their cell rooms on Saturday at the Tecumseh state prison, and a staff member was seriously injured in an assault on, Signs advertising cannabis complete with large marijuana leaves have sprouted up across Nebraska. . A man prepares to smoke K2 or "Spice", a synthetic marijuana drug. Courts have ruled that inmates have no right to demand independent verification of drug tests. "The substance was determined to be chocolate. A 2016ProPublica/New York Timesinvestigation found that 212 people pleaded guilty between January 2004 and June 2015 to drug possession based on Houston Police Department field tests that were later invalidated by crime labs. And the compounds that the tests screen for aren't exclusive to the illegal drugs the tests are supposed to indicate. Copyright 2023 Copyright 2023 Corrections1. In the past, K2 had been sprayed on easier-to-spot leafy substances. Add to cart. Request information from Smiths Detection. $ 50.00 $ 45.00. Federal inmates trying to fight NIK test determinations are caught in a bind: They have no procedural grounds to challenge their punishment as long as these tests are considered "some evidence," but none of them can get far enough in court to challenge the validity of that evidence, even though there is an ample record to support their claimsincluding from the government itself. While U.S. media coverage of this problem was scarce before Hernandezs death, it has been regularly noted as a concern in U.K. prisons for several years. Copyright 2023 I guarantee it.". Liquid K2. He said: Ive made mistakes, but I dont deserve this.. As a result, prisoners are allegedly being given solitary confinement, losing visitation privileges, or facing other punishments. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. a note for a NARK II product on Sirchies website reads. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images). The issues with these tests have been known for decades and are easily verifiable. He also made red ink marks on his hands and feet, mimicking the stigmata of the crucifixion of Christ. While the eternal spiritual state of his soul cant be known with any certainty, what is known for sure is there was K2, a form of synthetic marijuana, in him when he died. Although they're not "Club Fed," as tabloid headlines like to joke, the camps are as good as it gets in the BOP system. A variety of tools can help minimize the risk to corrections staff as well as keep contraband out. By the time Green ultimately received the legal communication, it was unreadable. The footage shows the officer performing a NARK II test for methamphetamines, which turned dark red instead of blue, indicating a negative result, according to the manufacturer. Ive also seen it where lads have dropped down dead, had heart attacks, gone into comas, gone loopy and ended up being sectioned because of it.. Another common smuggling method for the drug soaking paper in liquid Suboxone and mailing it to inmates is less evident to the naked eye. Crime:the 2007 execution-style shooting deaths of two Grand Island men, Timothy Donohue and Edward Hall. Joker E-Liquid Vanilla available at K2 Liquid Spray, we deliver products worldwide with private shipping to your doorstep. For example, X-ray body scanners have been shown to detect physical concealment of contraband while also deterring future attempts. All rights reserved. In 2013, Travis County, Texas, stopped accepting guilty pleas for low-level drug possession before official crime lab results came in. On December 4, 2014, he says, a correctional officer confiscated his pouch and tested its contents for drugs. Inmates open them in the presence of corrections officers, then copies are made and given to the inmate. Category: Liquid K2. You can buy the infused A4 plain paper and write a letter to send to your buddy in prison. All rights reserved. You'll also get a few periodic newsletters about issues discussed here and related topics. The Bureau of Prisons uses drug field tests manufactured by Safariland. I refuse to believe that every defense attorney in Massachusetts is suddenly a drug dealer.. It's not easy being in prison, and having a little something like Liquid K2 in prisons can surely make it a little easy for them Liquid K2 spray at the largest drug store in USA & Canada Liquid K2 spray has an unlimited number of ways to be used. Last year, 560 of the 1,015 drug-contraband cases - slightly less than half - involved K2. But it seems the methods used to uncover K2 use need to be more accurate, as the negative consequences to inmates for false positives are so serious. A tablet system will allow almost all inmate communications to be conducted virtually, without paper, thus eliminating the need to screen snail mail and books. Please subscribe to keep reading. It's a big epidemic in prison.". Fewer staff members means fewer people to check incoming mail, visitors and deliveries, he said, and inmates realize that. The officers concede that some of their fellow guards are probably sneaking it in, as well, to make extra money on the side. Most of our assaults (of staff) are linked to K2, he said. When an inmates belongings test positive for K2, he typically gets 90 days in restricted housing, meaning he spends 23 hours a day locked in a Spartan cell. "They give them a shot, they send it to [regional headquarters] and say, 'Hey, we got to transfer this guy to a higher-security prison.'". It can be hard to find an open shower stall to take a shower. "You get furloughs to go home and see your family. Here, like the U.S. prison in Forest City Arkansas, the drugs mostly come into the prison is as throwovers tossed over the prison wall. These are the best-hidden drugs these days because cops have a much harder time catching them.. Roger Terry, an inmate in a Maryland state prison, filed a lawsuit in 2011 after he was put in solitary confinement for nearly 200 days following a positive NIK test of coffee grounds that was later invalidated by a crime lab. Inside prison one sheet of K2-soaked paper can sell for as much as $6,000, so inmates are going to extraordinary lengths to get it in. "They don't want to hear that, because it's one of their tools that they have in their toolbox to get rid of people without question," he says. Harris County, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, did the same in 2016. If in doubt, read My Comments Policy. Some of the popular K2 liquids papers are Bizarro k2 liquid on paper,K2 Liquid On Paper Diablo k2 liquid spray on paper, Cannabinoid-C liquid spray on paper, K2 spice-infused . ALL TEST RESULTS MUST BE CONFIRMED BY AN APPROVED ANALYTICAL LABORATORY! a note for a NARK II product on Sirchies website reads. Of the 950 contraband busts inside Texas prisons between January and mid-June, 477 involved illegal drugs - and 268 of those, more than half, were for possessing K2, according to state statistics. I talked to one dude and he said he hit it and he started rapping. | But tens of thousands of incarcerated people in the U.S. are subjected to it for months, sometimes years, at a time. As for Steffey, the grant of compassionate release that got him out of prison early also messed up his case, because the government was able to argue that he'd already received the relief he was seeking. Now, blank sheets of paper presoaked with K2 can be purchased over the internet, with instructions on how to brush or spray the dangerous hallucinogenic onto paper and fibers. Ivey had worked very hard to educate himself and prove he was someone who deserved a chance at parole. Current and former employees at Nebraska state prisons testified to Nebraska lawmakers about what record-high vacancies and other troubling is, Marijuana hasn't been legalized in Nebraska, but if and when it is, the Nebraska Cannabis Association said it will work to develop"a robust, . It was scary.". Reactions may occur with, and such compounds can be found in, both legal and illegal products.". AUSTIN, TexasIt's the zombies that freak everybody out. Months ago at the Ferguson Unit, a state prison north of Huntsville long known as one of Texas' tougher lockups, a convict doing 30 years for drug trafficking "flipped out" and started yelling and swinging wildly at correctional officers and other convicts. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. F rom shanks to . Liquid K2, a type of synthetic marijuana that causes erratic behavior when smoked, is being smuggled to inmates through the mail, sprayed on letters and pages of books. The NIK Color test for heroin does not meet any recognized forensic scientific standard.". The effects of synthetic marijuana on an individual can vary widely. The lab test on the mail later came back negative. Nebraska Corrections, for instance, now bans shipments of books from Amazon and restricts purchases to one company, Edward R. Hamilton, which specializes in providing reading materials for correctional facilities. Aaron Hernandezs tragic death spotlighted a serious problem with synthetic marijuana in prisons. It's crazy here." Officials say the prisons in the Huntsville area have been the source for the majority of the K2 busts in the past two years, though it is turning up elsewhere. Lexipol. Synthetic marijuana drug K-2 gaining popularity in prisons Westgate Plaza, 82 Hillside Blvd, Lakewood, NJ 08701, United States order@chemicalmedshop.com 24/ 7 +1 718-814 . In 2018, the Superior Court of Imperial County, California, ruled in the casePeople v. Chaconthat unverified NIK tests were not admissible evidence in grand jury proceedings. Chemists cooking up these substances are tinkering with the molecular structure to skirt DEA regulations, says Frunzi. Best Spice Paper Worldwide. Toney said authorities are serious about cutting off the supply inside prisons: "If you're trying to bring it in, if you throw it out on the grounds for someone else to bring it in, we're gonna catch you and you're gonna be wearing matching uniforms with the person you came to see.". We have special a4 K2 infused paper for sale. If synthetic marijuana is popular in your region, help spread the word of the dangers and misconceptions about this drug. The latest security screening technology can help keep officers and inmates safe by mitigating the risk of unrest, illness and debt which often result from access to illicit goods and improvised or smuggled weapons. 3 contraband after homemade alcohol and cigarettes, which are still incredibly popular contraband.. Unlike in Chacon, however, the federal district court that eventually heard Steffey's lawsuit dismissed his case in May 2020 and denied his motion to hold an evidentiary hearing on the reliability of NIK tests. The problem is that really, you don't know what's in them. Writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rich Lord described the K2 problem at the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Huntingdon. With us, you're rest assured to order the best potent k2 liquid on paper, k2 spice paper,k2 liquid incense, liquid k2 spray, k2 spray on paper, liquid spice paper, presoaked potent k2 paper, odorless k2 liquid paper,clear k2 paper and pain meds online securely. "We hold that the requirements of due process are satisfied if some evidence supports the decision by the prison disciplinary board," the Court wrote. Steffey says a contact of his was using a real lawyer's name to send someone else's court records to another inmate. Safariland's NIK kits, as well as those produced by other companies, aren't supposed to be used on impure materials. One of its more common product names is Kush. They started to send counterfeit letters from attorneys so K2 mailings could bypass the screenings required for regular mail, but not for communication with lawyers. "I can't even count how many people I saw that happen to," Blaisure says of inmates being hit with bogus contraband accusations, "but I can guarantee you I'm one of the very few that I know of that took it all the way to federal court and won.". Lexipol. So, if one were to accept the logic proffered by the People that the NIK heroin test is presumptive positive for heroin it would also be true that it is a presumptive positive test for chocolate. We'll pay for it.'". Harris says the dyes and other chemicals in paper make it unreliable for color tests. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Steffey is no longer incarcerated, but he is still trying to fight the BOP for stripping him of good behavior credits and throwing him in solitary confinement for five months based on what he says is an unverified test with a well-established track record of leading to wrongful arrests. It's a versatile drug that can give birth to several forms and uses. Because these molecules are versions of THC but not actual THC, the prevailing idea is that they will not turn up in a drug screen, he said. 4.29.2023 6:00 AM, Joe Lancaster These tests alone aren't admissible evidence in almost any court in the U.S., but they are considered probable cause for a police officer to arrest someone. "That functional group, however, is not specific to methamphetamine. When used to test for drugs sprayed on paper (such as legal mail), these tests are less accurate than witchcraft, phrenology, or simply picking a number out of a hat, the lawsuit alleges. "The prisons have really gone off on their own to use it as this kind of one and only definitive test for whatever punishment or other purposes they're using it for. But liquid K2, when sprayed on paper, is odorless and colorless, and there are no easy field tests to determine if something has been soaked in the stuff. The testimony inChaconalso established that the term "presumptive positive," as used by law enforcement and prosecutors, was largely meaningless, since the tests can't discriminate between illicit substances and the dozens of known licit substances that also trigger color reactions. A NARK II field test of the substance returned a presumptive positive for methamphetamines, and Fincher was charged with trafficking and possession of meth with intent to distribute. The Legislature made K2 illegal in September 2015. So the incarcerated people who are accused can either quickly accept responsibility and face lesser punishment despite being innocent, or give up privileges and possibly enter solitary confinement while awaiting more accurate lab data. But now they are further restricted to buying books for inmates from certain suppliers. He also lost 41 days of good time credits and had visitations suspended for nearly six months. Chemists cooking up these substances are tinkering with the molecular structure to skirt DEA regulations, says Frunzi. State drug and prison investigators said the K2 epidemic first began about five years ago, as local police began addressing overdoses on so-called synthetic marijuana that was available for sale in convenience stores and head shops. Crime:The 2002 Norfolk bank robbery; he shot and killed Lola Elwood, a bank employee. Although it doesnt pose the same respiratory failure risk that fentanyl does, unlike fentanyl Suboxone is very easy to absorb through the skin. Don't come and ask us about it anymore. K2 liquid drugs are also used in various combinations with both. In April, a search of a prison in Clarinda, Iowa, found 60 inmates involved in consuming or possessing K2, prompting new precautions to keep the liquid form from being smuggled in. Sometimes the drugs are mixed with ink or crayon wax and delivered as handwritten mail or childrens drawings. Prison advocates are calling for a similar suspension of the use of NARK II tests in Massachusetts prisons after more than a dozen attorneys said they were falsely accused of sending drugs to their incarcerated clients, who were then put in solitary confinement for receiving legitimate legal mail. "When confirmatory testing is done by the Department of Justice [in] some Grand Jury charged cases there turns out to be no controlled substances," the court noted.
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