# Let's Pit the DEA...one more time. (RO) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 2, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654 "2012-05-02T16:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/1 "2012-05-02T16:32:52Z")
[Link to relevant story.](http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/02/11502225-student-left-for-days-in-dea-cell-i-was-forced-to-drink-my-own-urine?lite) Short version: UC San Diego student swept up in a series of drug raids is tossed in a cell without food or water and then “forgotten” for 4 days. I hope he wins millions in a well-publicized lawsuit and I hope the people and agency involved get fired and/or serious jail time for this. Fat chance on the latter. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/2 "2012-05-02T16:53:49Z")
Kinda curious about how he managed to drink his own urine… did he do a headstand and aim into his mouth? And this is also a bit odd: > [@MSNBC](#): > > Chong said he lost roughly 15 pounds during the time he was alone. His lawyer confirmed that Chong ingested a powdery substance found inside the cell. Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine. “Found inside the cell”? What, they gave him a cell prefurnished with meth? Or did he bring it in himself? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/3 "2012-05-02T16:57:04Z")
Even worse, in case people who don’t click through think that abusing drug dealers isn’t that bad - per his account, he was smoking pot at a friend’s house on 4/20, they got busted, he was processed, not charged, and told he could go home, but they forgot him in a holding cell until Wednesday the 25th. He was delirious and spent 3 days in the ICU with near-failing kidneys. In the cell, he tried to kill himself with glass from his eyeglass lenses, rather than die by dehydration. **Vinyl** , my WAGs are: pee into a cupped hand and drink a handful at a time, or pee on the floor and drink it off the floor; previous occupant passed/puked a condom with meth, spilled some opening it up, didn’t get all of the powder before being hauled off. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/4 "2012-05-02T17:10:23Z")
My personal favourite from the article was where the DEA was good enough to pay for his visit to the hospital. > [@](#): > > He said when employees discovered him in the cell that they looked confused and nervous. A DEA employee rode with him to the hospital, where they paid for Chong’s visit. I mean that _has_ to be missing some context right? And I mean aside from the US health system’s general weirdness. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/5 "2012-05-02T17:16:09Z")
Cops haven’t let me out after 1 hour, better drink my own piss. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/6 "2012-05-02T17:16:39Z")
I’ll bet he had the munchies that whole time, too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/7 "2012-05-02T17:28:22Z")
What happened to Cheech? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/8 "2012-05-02T17:53:38Z")
Well, he had to _eat_ too… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/9 "2012-05-02T20:03:51Z")
If he had no food or water, he hardly needed a toilet, did he? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/10 "2012-05-02T20:13:43Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > If he had no food or water, he hardly needed a toilet, did he? Well, not after the second day, probably. He _had_ been celebrating 4/20, so presumably had a fairly well loaded digestive system going in. Plus, as I understand it, you want to try and limit the number of times you recycle your urine. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/11 "2012-05-02T20:24:57Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Kinda curious about how he managed to drink his own urine… did he do a headstand and aim into his mouth? Pro survival tip: piss on your shirt, then wring the contents of your shirt into your mouth. Further pro survival tip: don’t drink piss. It’s worse than not drinking at all in all respects, including self-. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/12 "2012-05-02T20:29:15Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Kinda curious about how he managed to drink his own urine… did he do a headstand and aim into his mouth? > > And this is also a bit odd: > > “Found inside the cell”? What, they gave him a cell prefurnished with meth? Or did he bring it in himself? According to [this](http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20120502/US.Suspect.Forgotten/?cid=hero_media) version, the Feds admitted to it leaving in the cell. Was he housed in an evidence locker? > [@](#): > > Chong also ingested a white powder DEA agents said was left in the cell accidentally and later identified as methamphetamine. This reminds me of a Stephen King novel. sub[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/13 "2012-05-02T20:48:45Z")
This story sounds like the poster child for “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” They were supposed to release the guy, they just forgot (most likely never told the person who was supposed to do the releasing). Although it is certainly a gruesome story, that is likely to add to my nightmare catalogue, it’s not the same as deliberate torture and mistreatment of prisoners. It reminds me a little of the tragic “kid forgotten in car” cases. I do hope this guy gets an extremely generous settlement from the government, and that some better procedures are put in place, although it seems like a bizarre one-off that is unlikely to ever happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/14 "2012-05-02T20:58:32Z")
So where in the building are the holding cells in relation to the cops on duty? Could they not here him scream "I could sure use a glass of water!’? ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/15 "2012-05-02T22:27:15Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > So where in the building are the holding cells in relation to the cops on duty? Could they not here him scream "I could sure use a glass of water!'? I’m guessing prison guards get inured to the complaints and calls of prisoners very, very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/16 "2012-05-02T22:27:42Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Could they not here him scream "I could sure use a glass of water!'? Yeah, this strikes me as an institutional failure. Far divorced from the Canadian prison system (see Kevin Smith’s Too Fat for Forty stand-up for further info, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/17 "2012-05-02T22:48:07Z")
You’d think they’d at least have a camera pointed at the cell, and someone who looks at the monitor from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/18 "2012-05-02T23:09:25Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “Found inside the cell”? What, they gave him a cell prefurnished with meth? Or did he bring it in himself? Or they left it in there in the hopes he’d take it and then they could test him and convict him of using meth; or they originally intended to haul him before a judge when the stuff kicked in so he’d look bad, and someone forgot their part of the routine. I’ve heard of jails spiking prisoner’s food or drink with drugs like that to make the look bad before a hearing. > [@Saltire](#): > > You’d think they’d at least have a camera pointed at the cell, and someone who looks at the monitor from time to time. Not everybody is dumb enough to film their crimes. My guess is that they are abusive and neglectful as a matter of course; a “mistake” this big isn’t likely to happen in isolation. They quite probably _intended_ to let the guy go without food or water for a day or two to “soften him up” or “teach him a lesson” (and probably do that sort of thing regularly), or to give him time to get desperate and eat the drug they left, and just let it go on longer than usual this time. They then realized that if he died they likely wouldn’t be able to cover it up and sent him to the hospital, but the media got hold of it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/19 "2012-05-02T23:39:32Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > This story sounds like the poster child for “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” They were supposed to release the guy, they just forgot (most likely never told the person who was supposed to do the releasing). Although it is certainly a gruesome story, that is likely to add to my nightmare catalogue, it’s not the same as deliberate torture and mistreatment of prisoners. It reminds me a little of the tragic “kid forgotten in car” cases. I do hope this guy gets an extremely generous settlement from the government, and that some better procedures are put in place, although it seems like a bizarre one-off that is unlikely to ever happen again. The decision to build a prison in which prisoners are in total isolation and thus such a horrifying thing is possible bespeaks a degree of malice all on its own. What does “RO” mean? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654/20 "2012-05-02T23:58:34Z")
“Recreational Outrage.” As in “This doesn’t affect me directly and/or personally, but I’m pissed off about it anyway.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-the-dea-one-more-time-ro/620654.md?page=2)