# Pooping in a bag and mailing it to someone, legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997 "2010-06-13T10:47:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/1 "2010-06-13T10:47:42Z")
I would like to know the legalities or otherwise of deficating into a bag or other container and mailing the contents to someone. Would this be legal? I have wanted to do this for a long time, but I am sure that it is a felony of some kind to do do it. There are plenty of people I would love to mail a turd too, old bosses, people from my past, company CEO’s, my congressman, etc. Somebody mentioned it would be illegal without a biohazard stamp on it. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/2 "2010-06-13T10:56:03Z")
Ask at the post office. They can give you the official answer. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/3 "2010-06-13T13:47:02Z")
Have it irradiated and sterilized before you send it. I’m pretty sure mailing poop to hated people has been done before. In more than one country. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/4 "2010-06-13T13:47:22Z")
Check to see if it’s legal of course. I know it has been done. Two things come to mind about this concept. First, it must be packaged properly or USPS rules would be violated. It may have to be marked in a certain way. It could be classified as biological product that might preclude it or restrict it. But in the end, you are also mailing your DNA to the individual. Do you desire to give up your privacy to that extend? Also, if you had the notion of mailing it without a return address, think again. The post office won’t accept it at the walk-in office and they should segregate it, and possibly just destroy it, if deployed in a drop box. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/5 "2010-06-13T14:37:31Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > Check to see if it’s legal of course. I know it has been done. Two things come to mind about this concept. First, it must be packaged properly or USPS rules would be violated. It may have to be marked in a certain way. It could be classified as biological product that might preclude it or restrict it. But in the end, you are also mailing your DNA to the individual. Do you desire to give up your privacy to that extend? > > Also, if you had the notion of mailing it without a return address, think again. The post office won’t accept it at the walk-in office and they should segregate it, and possibly just destroy it, if deployed in a drop box. Why is your DNA in your poop? Isn’t it just what remains of food you consumed and intestinal bacteria? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/6 "2010-06-13T15:32:03Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Ask at the post office. They can give you the official answer. Why would you even bother to post something like this? I am pretty sure that you could package and label it in such a way that it would be legal as far as postal service regulations go. That said, it would probably be illegal because you would be harassing them. As for the DNA question. If there were blood in the mailed shit, there would be DNA. Is even a little bit of blood in the stool common? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/7 "2010-06-13T15:51:10Z")
DNA can be tested in feces using the [QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit](http://www.bioresearchonline.com/product.mvc/QIAamp-DNA-Stool-Mini-Kit-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO). As to mailing it, it could possibly be a crime under 18 U.S. § 1716. [Injurious articles as nonmailable](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001716----000-.html), or it could run afoul of regulations on mailing biohazardous materials, but I’m far from certain on either of those - I confess a lack of experience in poop-mailing law. Depending on the intent with which it’s done, it could also be constured as criminal harassment or terroristic threat. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/8 "2010-06-13T15:53:05Z")
_“As for the DNA question. If there were blood in the mailed shit, there would be DNA. Is even a little bit of blood in the stool common?”_ You can mail someone else’s shit. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/9 "2010-06-13T15:55:50Z")
I will mail a tiny feces sample once every couple years, so it can’t be completely illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/10 "2010-06-13T15:57:05Z")
I say go for it and see what happens ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/11 "2010-06-13T16:05:00Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Why is your DNA in your poop? Isn’t it just what remains of food you consumed and intestinal bacteria? The mucous membranes of your gut are continually being renewed. As the cells at the base of the membrane divide and multiply, the old cells on the surface of the membrane die and are shed into the interior of the gut. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/12 "2010-06-13T16:07:59Z")
In the latest _Bloom County_ collection, Breathed mentions in one of the comments that Hunter S. Thompson mailed some human excrement to _Doonesbury_ creator Garry Trudeau (or so he was told by Trudeau, at least). Thompson strikes me as someone who would not consider the legality of the act to be an overriding concern. (While performing a google search for corroborating evidence, the search string “Trudeau Hunter Thompson turd mail” returns a link to the Straight Dope Message Board. Always on the cutting edge, aren’t we.) ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/13 "2010-06-13T16:26:46Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > DNA can be tested in feces using the [QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit](http://www.bioresearchonline.com/product.mvc/QIAamp-DNA-Stool-Mini-Kit-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO). As to mailing it, it could possibly be a crime under 18 U.S. § 1716. [Injurious articles as nonmailable](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001716----000-.html), or it could run afoul of regulations on mailing biohazardous materials, but I’m far from certain on either of those - I confess a lack of experience in poop-mailing law. Depending on the intent with which it’s done, it could also be constured as criminal harassment or **terroristic threat**. This is because all terrorists are turds, ergo all turds are terrorists. A captured turd, isolated, and undergoing temporary or prolonged sensory deprivation during relocation to an unfamiliar and unknown destination is prone to sewercidal thoughts. Devoid of any and all implements for self harm, the favoured merde morte method is choking. Officially, a dead deuce in a container omitting all light is known as a ‘strangled darkie.’ Why you would give a shit such shit to illustrate _not_ giving a shit to someone who once shit you is metaphorically and literally _giving_ a shit. So you’re shittin’ me, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/14 "2010-06-13T16:57:22Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > This is because all terrorists are turds, ergo all turds are terrorists. A captured turd, isolated, and undergoing temporary or prolonged sensory deprivation during relocation to an unfamiliar and unknown destination is prone to sewercidal thoughts. Devoid of any and all implements for self harm, the favoured merde morte method is choking. Officially, a dead deuce in a container omitting all light is known as a ‘strangled darkie.’ > Why you would give a shit such shit to illustrate _not_ giving a shit to someone who once shit you is metaphorically and literally _giving_ a shit. So you’re shittin’ me, aren’t you? I’m having a wee bit of trouble parsing this, but I think you’re asking why mailing poop could be terroristic threat. Terroristic threat doesn’t necessarily involve WMD’s or what we usually think of as “terrorism” - it involves generally putting somebody in fear of bodily injury. Calling someone on the phone and telling them “I’m going to come over to your house and beat the living shit out of you” is terroristic threat. Mailing somebody a turd could be construed as terroristic threat, harassment, or stalking. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/15 "2010-06-13T17:07:07Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > I’m having a wee bit of trouble parsing this, but I think you’re asking why mailing poop could be terroristic threat. Ah, no pravnik - I get the concept. No crap. I do. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/16 "2010-06-13T17:16:36Z")
Okay, I believe you and shit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/17 "2010-06-13T17:21:11Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Okay, I believe you and **shit**. 🙂 **pravnik**!! Did you just post shit to me? ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/18 "2010-06-13T19:03:24Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > As to mailing it, it could possibly be a crime under 18 U.S. § 1716. [Injurious articles as nonmailable](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001716----000-.html) Off topic, but I can’t resist - quoting from the above link: > [@](#): > > (a) All kinds of poison, and all articles and compositions containing poison, and all poisonous animals, insects, reptiles, and all explosives, hazardous materials, inflammable materials, \*\*infernal \*\*machines, Infernal machines?! I know the US is powerful, but have they invaded Hell as well? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/19 "2010-06-13T19:27:48Z")
Lol, but “infernal machine” **is** a [recognized technical term](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/infernal+machine) for “an explosive device designed to harm or destroy, especially with criminal intent.” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997/20 "2010-06-13T19:30:21Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > This is because all terrorists are turds, ergo all turds are terrorists. That is why I always waterboard mine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pooping-in-a-bag-and-mailing-it-to-someone-legal/542997.md?page=2)